For a long time, health food and indulgent eating have been seen as binary opposites. It’s sad that this attitude is so pervasive, when science has shown that many luxury foods are actually essentials for well-being. Below are a few surprisingly beneficial luxury foods to bring a smile to the face of any gourmets who care about their health.
Goat’s Cheese
Goat’s cheese has long been a luxury staple. But goat’s cheese shouldn’t just be an extravagance for special occasions: it has a whole host of health benefits, which make it a great addition to your daily diet.
Like all cheese, goat’s cheese is a great source of calcium – an essential dietary staple that many people struggle to include to sufficient capacity. Calcium is essential for healthy bone and tooth growth. Poor-quality cheese is often full of sugar and salt, but high-quality goat’s cheese delivers calcium without these unsavoury extras. It is also a great source of the amino acid tryptophan, phosphorus, riboflavin (vitamin B2), potassium, and protein.
Goat’s cheese has an additional benefit that many people don’t know about – it can also be tolerated by many lactose-intolerant people, who assume that because they can’t eat cow’s milk all dairy products are off limits. Goat’s milk’s simpler chemical structure makes it easy to digest, and so it can be safely eaten by those who consider themselves lactose intolerant.
Smoked Salmon
Smoked salmon is synonymous with aristocratic living. Because it’s a ‘treat food’, many people assume it can’t be too good for you. But in fact, oily fish such as smoked salmon, tuna and mackerel are excellent sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Crucially, they are very high in omega-3 essential fatty acids, important for the brain and the heart.
These omega acids can’t be manufactured in the human body, so must be consumed from foods. They are crucial for cell repair, maintaining the nervous (brain), cardiovascular, and reproductive systems.
Chocolate
Perhaps a surprising addition to the list, chocolate has many health benefits that are often overlooked. One reason why we don’t hear much about the benefits of chocolate is that the cheaper milk chocolate brands tend to contain a lot of added sugar. However, high-quality dark chocolate is a great source of flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. These antioxidants work against free radicals, which are some of the biggest contributors to heart disease.
Flavonoids also produce nitric oxide, which relaxes blood pressure. So people who are concerned about their cardiovascular systems should definitely add dark chocolate to their daily diets.
It can be difficult to find the best, purest brands for these health foods, which is why many people use luxury hamper services. These services do the research for you, finding the highest quality versions of various foods. And gift baskets are also available, helping you to treat your loved one to a present that will be good for their body as well as brightening their day.
