It`s hard to enjoy life without the occasional drink, coffee, or gooey chocolate treat. But what is the nutritional cost? The Wellness Advisor set out to find out.

Alcohol While a glass of wine might be nice with dinner, who knew that alcohol could actually be healthy for you? Research confirms that a moderate intake of alcoholic beverages is associated with significant health improvements, especially cardiovascular health. Red wine was among the first to serve us this good news. It’s been suggested that drinking red wine may lower the risk for heart disease. Red wine contains phytonutrients, resveratrol (from grape skins) and tannins--all powerful antioxidants that may offer heart health benefits. Resveratrol has estrogen-like qualities that may help increase HDL or “good” cholesterol. And both resveratrol and tannins may inhibit formation of blood clots.

Red wine is an acquired taste so if you`re just not into it, good news lies ahead. Heart health benefits appear to come from any alcoholic beverage: red or white wine, beer, and distilled spirits. Many observational studies have concluded that beer and red wine are equally beneficial in heart health. It is also being studied whether additional health benefits with nonalcoholic components in beer may be expected. Wine alone has been linked to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in older individuals in the U.S.

But don’t let your spirits soar too high! Moderation is the key word here. This translates to: One drink per day for women and Two per day for men. In fact, too much alcohol can hurt you, not help. Excessive intake has been linked to an increased risk for several health problems including high blood pressure, strokes, and cancer.

Excessive alcohol intake can lead to potential dependency, damage the brain, heart, liver, and pancreas, and cause nutrient deficiencies with calcium and B-vitamins. Alcohol can dull various brain centers and reduce concentration, coordination, and response time. It may also cause drowsiness and interfere with normal sleep patterns, slur speech and blur vision. Drinking while pregnant will increase the risk for birth defects. Drinking and driving can cause motor vehicle accidents, injuries, and death. So proceed with caution before you drink to your health.

Caffeine Caffeine is a naturally occurring substance found in the leaves, seeds, and fruits of more than 60 plants--including coffee and cocoa beans, tea leaves, and kola nuts. In the U.S., coffee is the main source of caffeine in the diet. Studies have explored connections between caffeine and health issues such as cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis, but no strong connections link moderate caffeine intake (that`s about two cups of coffee a day) to these health risks. And despite popular belief, the National Cancer Institute and the American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs report that fibrocystic breast disease is not associated with caffeine intake. Cool beans! Still, some experts believe caffeine may cause or worsen high blood pressure, while others believe caffeine causes only a temporary rise in blood pressure that lasts only a few hours. If you have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor about caffeine intake.

Caffeine also stimulates the central nervous system and can help increase alertness, attentiveness, and may enhance athletic performance. In the same sense, it can increase anxiety, cause insomnia, and temporarily speed up heart rate. Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others. Caffeine sensitivity usually depends on the amount and frequency of caffeine intake, body weight, physical condition, and normal anxiety levels. Pregnant women, older adults, and those with gastrointestinal problems and high blood pressure may be more sensitive to caffeine.

The general consensus is that 200 to 300 mg of caffeine (2-3 cups of coffee) poses no physical problems for most healthy adults. Both coffee and tea contain antioxidants linked to various health benefits and although can be included in a healthy diet, but should not replace water for daily fluid requirements.

Chocolate Did you know dark chocolate was named as one of the top 10 most important foods by a half-dozen leading research nutritionists when interviewed in the summer of 2004? They state that dark chocolate contains powerful antioxidants, flavonoids, which may help improve blood flow and benefit heart health.

How sweet is that? Even sweeter, two studies done in 2004 show that eating dark chocolate improves healthy blood flow and has cardio-protective capabilities. A more recent study published in the journal, Hypertension 2005, showed that hypertensive individuals who ate dark chocolate had significant reductions in blood pressure. Eating dark chocolate also seemed to improve how the body used insulin and reduced LDL or “bad” cholesterol by about 10% on average. None of these benefits were seen in those who ate white chocolate, which doesn’t contain flavonoids.

So far, dark chocolate seems to offer the most health benefits but don’t get too much of a good thing! Remember, chocolate also contains calories and fat. Enjoy dark chocolate in moderation but don’t replace broccoli with a Hershey bar or put a Mars bar on your plate instead of a salad!