“Have your cake and eat it too.”
A large portion of the world begin their days with coffee and there are many who love the taste of chocolate. If you belong to either group you will get very excited when you learn that some of your pleasures actually have valuable health benefits. As they say the devil is in the details so, of course, there are limits and ingredients in coffee or cholate that may reduce or eliminate the benefits but if these are avoided, the benefits remain. Since coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed commodities in the world and often treated with herbicides such as glyphosate prior to harvest, for reduced risk drink organically grown coffee. The same applies to cocoa bean as well, consider buying organic chocolate it may be a smarter choice. And since hidden sugar is a problem, reading labels is very important to see how much added sugar is in the product. As they say: have your cake and eat it too.
No sugar, please!
High sugar consumption can have negative effects on both physical and mental health, mainly because of its impact on blood glucose and brain chemistry. Refined sugar (unlike whole fruits) causes rapid spikes in blood glucose that create short-lived energy and mood boosts, followed by crashes that lead to fatigue, low mood, and addictive eating patterns due to severe cravings. Research has linked high consumption of refined sugar to poorer mental health outcomes including higher risks of depression, anxiety and related disorders.
Coffee or tea?
There has been many studies on coffee examining how its consumption affects health, biology, and behavior focusing on chronic disease risk, mortality vs longevity, gut, liver or mental health among many others. Overall, coffee research has proven that for most adults, the benefits of drinking coffee in moderation (about 2–4 cups per day) outweigh the risks and could lower overall mortality, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, improve liver health, lower risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke and reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease. Now a brand new cross-sectional study also showed that “[c]offee intake within the recommended dose is linked to longer telomeres in severe mental disorders, comparable to 5 years younger biological age.”[1] Why is this important? Because telomere length is an indicator of cellular ageing, and patients with severe mental disorders tend to have shorter telomeres than the general population.
If you are someone who prefers green tea to coffee, we have good news for you too. According to a meta-analysis of 15 articles “[g]reen tea significantly improves fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin and insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes.”[2]
How about wine?
Moderation is most likely the key to health, even if it involves the combination of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular health, but what you consume matters. According to a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications “moderate wine consumption defined as 1-4 drinks per week was associated with a reduction in risk for cardiovascular mortality when compared with beer or spirits. However, higher risk for cardiovascular disease mortality was typically seen with heavier daily or weekly alcohol consumption across all types of beverages.”[3] Several other studies have shown benefits of red wine consumption, including significant reduction of several circulating inflammatory and adhesion markers in healthy individuals.[4]
Again, we need to look a bit deeper and make our choices wisely as drinking red wine in moderation will not do the trick on its own, we also need to consider the differences between labeling regulations e.g. the ones in the US vs. the ones in the EU. In the European Union, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and delegated acts require that wines containing any of a specified list of 69 processing aids or additives (e.g., certain fining agents, flavorings, oak chips) must either be kept below threshold levels or, if used above those levels, be explicitly declared on the label. The USA disclose a much narrower list of seven “natural flavors” used when these flavors alter the wine’s character and are used above minimal levels. Many common processing aids—such as bentonite, egg white, isinglass, lysozyme, certain sulfites, and acidification/de-acidification agents—are exempt from label disclosure as long as they leave no “perceptible effect” on the finished wine. If California wine is your preference, then your priority is full transparency on both vineyard sprays and winemaking additives, this is why choosing certified organic California wines is the most reliable option under current US labeling law.
The chocolate factory
The same goes for products containing cocoa, which is produced predominantly in Africa, with Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana together accounting for nearly three-quarters of global cocoa production. Cocoa farming is a major driver of deforestation in West Africa, and agroforestry-based cocoa systems are increasingly promoted as a potential approach to reduce forest loss. “Agroforestry systems also have higher ecosystem services compared to full-sun cocoa and high-tech cocoa systems. The high pesticide use in Ghana′s high-tech cocoa systems is also strongly linked to water and soil pollution, as well as adverse effects on human health.”[5] Pesticides are widely used in Ghana’s cocoa sector, but farmers often apply and manage them improperly. This leads to unsafe storage, application, mixing multiple pesticides together, disposal, and reported health symptoms posing risks to multiple areas. You might think that certification means safe methods yet a study on pesticide application practices “revealed that most farmers belonged to Cooperatives & Certification groups and used about 70% of insecticides approved by COCOBOD.”[6]
Yet when opting for quality, organic chocolate definitely has its benefits. Research shows that dark chocolate rich in cocoa is good for a multitude of reasons: it is high in flavanols and other antioxidants which were linked to lower blood pressure, reduced inflammation, and better cholesterol profiles. Chocolate consumption has also been associated with improved insulin sensitivity, cognitive function and mood. However, these benefits are most evident with high-cocoa, low-sugar chocolate and moderate intake.
Choosing organic—and not only when it comes to chocolate, coffee or wine—has been proven to reduce the exposure to a range of agricultural pesticides, from which the most heavily used agricultural chemical in the world is the herbicide glyphosate. A randomised crossover trial[7] analysed urinary glyphosate concentrations among pregnant participants and found that the average amount of glyphosate measured in urine was slightly higher during the conventional diet week than during the organic diet week. When the analysis included only participants who closely followed the dietary intervention, glyphosate levels decreased significantly, especially in the far-field group.
A healthy diet—including the careful selection of foods and drinks mentioned in this newsletter—is essential for both physical and mental well-being. Many processed foods provide empty calories that fill the stomach or give the momentary pleasure but lack essential nutrients, leaving the body and brain undernourished. As our diets are often low in vital nutrients, supplementation can help ensure the body receives the nutrients it needs to improve health and work against the unnatural aging process.
Life Choice products for improved health and anti-aging:
References:
- Boateng, Kwame Osei et al. 2022. Knowledge, perception, and pesticide application practices among smallholder cocoa farmers in four Ghanaian cocoa-growing regions. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9792701/
- Hyland, Carly et al. 2023. Urinary Glyphosate Concentrations among Pregnant Participants in a Randomized, Crossover Trial of Organic and Conventional Diets. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37493357/
- Jia, Ming-Jie et al. 2024. The effect of green tea on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39809182/
- Krittanawong, Chayakrit et al. 2022. Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Health. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35580715/
- Mlakar, Vid – Aas, Monica et al. 2025. Coffee intake is associated with telomere length in severe mental disorders. https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/28/1/e301700
- Sheng, Yingkun et al. 2024. Red wine alleviates atherosclerosis-related inflammatory markers in healthy subjects rather than in high cardiovascular risk subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38847707/
- Wainaina, Priscilla et al. 2021. A Review of the Trade-Offs across Different Cocoa Production Systems in Ghana. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/10945
[1] Mlakar, Vid – Aas, Monica et al. 2025.
[2] Jia, Ming-Jie et al. 2024.
[3] Krittanawong, Chayakrit et al. 2022.
[4] Sheng, Yingkun et al. 2024.
[5] Wainaina, Priscilla et al. 2021.
[6] Boateng, Kwame Osei et al. 2022.
[7] Hyland, Carly et al. 2023.