Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano

You go out to dinner and order a healthy spinach salad.  Everything is going fine until your friend offers to split the hot fudge sundae with you, and you agree. You enjoy every bite of it. But once it’s gone, you feel guilty.

Does this sound familiar? We all deal with desires to indulge, but it is possible to indulge without feeling guilty. Follow these tips for guilt-free, healthy indulging, from Jennifer Bishop, M.D., family medicine physician on the Baylor Plano medical staff. 

• Enjoy a piece of dark chocolate: Few foods provide satisfaction like chocolate, and eating an ounce of dark chocolate a day can actually improve your health. Dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure, increase blood flow, and improved HDL, or good cholesterol.
• Spoil yourself with aromatherapy: Studies suggest that the scent of lavender may alleviate anxiety and headaches, assist in overcoming depression, and enhance sleep.  Consider lighting a lavender scented candle in your home or spraying the fragrance on your pillow.
• Laugh it up: Laughter is good medicine. Research shows that laughter can relieve stress, boost your immune system and increase blood flow, decrease blood sugar levels and support digestion. So invite your funniest friends over this weekend to watch your favorite comedy, and get ready to laugh.
• Sip some tea: Put that coffee cup down, and pick up the tea.  According to research, tea can help relieve tension. Results from a study showed that those who consumed four cups of black tea a day for six weeks let off fewer stress hormones after performing a stressful task than individuals who drank a caffeinated fruit beverage. Studies have also shown that green tea may reduce your risk of developing cancer cells and can help lower cholesterol levels.