Delightful Dessert: The “Three Pleasures” by Harvard's Walter Willett
- Alastair Hunt
- Jul 19, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 21, 2024
When it comes to dessert, please, let’s not mess around. We came across a delectable, indulgent and healthful dessert that will not only tantalise your taste buds but also nourish your body. The Three Pleasures Dessert, a heavenly combination brought to life by none other than top global nutritionist and researcher Walter Willett, Professor of Medicine and head of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition.
So, what does one of the top minds in nutrition recommend for dessert? He came up with three delicious and complementary ingredients that are combined to maximise health and taste.
Berries
Berries combine natural sweet or sour flavours with a powerful punch of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Vitamin C promotes a robust immune system and healthy skin. Antioxidant polyphenols neutralise harmful free radicals and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
Use: 1 generous portion
Dark Chocolate
Chocolate, the ultimate guilty pleasure! But in this case, dark chocolate, rich in antioxidants called flavonoids that combat oxidative stress in our cells. They can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases and slow down the aging process. Dark chocolate is also known to elevate mood and enhance cognitive function. And, chocolate just makes you feel better, right?!
Use: 4 squares (choose a dark chocolate of 70% cacao or higher)
Nuts
Nuts bring a satisfying crunch to the dessert and deliver a wealth of health benefits. The fibre in nuts aids in digestion and helps maintain a feeling of fullness. Additionally, nuts are brimming with protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and anti-inflammatory compounds.
Use: 2 to 6 nuts, for example, 2 whole walnuts or 6 almonds.
At it's simplest you can just combine the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy. Alternatively and conveniently, famed French chef Jacques Pepin (always good for some home cooking tips) has an easy to prepare recipe:
Polyphenols
All 'three pleasures' are rich in polyphenol flavonoids - phytochemicals (plant based chemicals) that are anti-inflammatory. Flavonoids are part of the polyphenol group that includes many of the names that you might see in the marketing or advertising of superfoods:
Flavonoids e.g. anthocyanins, catechins, kaempferol, quercetin. The main flavanols found in cocoa are epicatechin and catechin. Berries are rich in anthocyanins, flavonols and flavanols. Nuts, dependent on type, can be rich in flavonoids, phenolic acids and stilbenes.
Stilbenes; the best known is resveratrol, found in the skins of grapes, blueberries, raspberries and mulberries.
Long-term consumption of diets rich in polyphenols may offer protection against development of certain cancers, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, pancreatitis, gastrointestinal problems, lung damage, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Final Thoughts
Walter Willett's Three Pleasures Dessert nourishes body and soul. By thoughtfully combining berries, dark chocolate and nuts this is a treat that can be kept on hand for any occasion.
Remember, health doesn’t have to be hard - cut back on the bad things and do some of the good things. As long as you do something, consistently, to move the needle towards health. Life is about finding joy in the small things: nuts, berries and a couple of pieces of dark chocolate included. Even a glass of dark, red wine.
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Stay Healthy,
Alastair
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Related Studies
Yang J, Zhou J, Yang J, Lou H, Zhao B, Chi J, Tang W. Dark chocolate intake and cardiovascular diseases: a Mendelian randomization study. Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 10;14(1):968. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-50351-6. PMID: 38200066; PMCID: PMC10781976.
Liu B, Zong G, Zhu L, Hu Y, Manson J E, Wang M et al. Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort studies BMJ 2024; 387 :e078386 doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-078386
Yang J, Zhou J, Yang J, Lou H, Zhao B, Chi J, Tang W. Dark chocolate intake and cardiovascular diseases: a Mendelian randomization study. Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 10;14(1):968. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-50351-6. PMID: 38200066; PMCID: PMC10781976.
Zekrumah M, Begua P, Razak A, Wahab J, Moffo N, Ivane A, Oman M, Elrashied H, Zou X, Zhang D. Role of dietary polyphenols in non-communicable chronic disease prevention, and interactions in food systems: An overview. Nutrition. 2023 Aug;112:112034. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112034. Epub 2023 Mar 15. PMID: 37285724.
Sesso HD, Manson JE, Aragaki AK, Rist PM, Johnson LG, Friedenberg G, Copeland T, Clar A, Mora S, Moorthy MV, Sarkissian A, Carrick WR, Anderson GL; COSMOS Research Group. Effect of cocoa flavanol supplementation for the prevention of cardiovascular disease events: the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) randomized clinical trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Jun 7;115(6):1490-1500. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac055. PMID: 35294962; PMCID: PMC9170467.
Jaćimović S, Popović-Djordjević J, Sarić B, Krstić A, Mickovski-Stefanović V, Pantelić NĐ. Antioxidant Activity and Multi-Elemental Analysis of Dark Chocolate. Foods. 2022 May 17;11(10):1445. doi: 10.3390/foods11101445. PMID: 35627015; PMCID: PMC9141620.
Shin JH, Kim CS, Cha L, Kim S, Lee S, Chae S, Chun WY, Shin DM. Consumption of 85% cocoa dark chocolate improves mood in association with gut microbial changes in healthy adults: a randomized controlled trial. J Nutr Biochem. 2022 Jan;99:108854. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2021.108854. Epub 2021 Sep 14. PMID: 34530112.
García-Merino JA, de Lucas B, Herrera-Rocha K, Moreno-Pérez D, Montalvo-Lominchar MG, Fernández-Romero A, Santiago C, Pérez-Ruiz M, Larrosa M. Flavanol-Rich Cocoa Supplementation Inhibits Mitochondrial Biogenesis Triggered by Exercise. Antioxidants (Basel). 2022 Aug 4;11(8):1522. doi: 10.3390/antiox11081522. PMID: 36009241; PMCID: PMC9405215.
Gunaratne TM, Gonzalez Viejo C, Fuentes S, Torrico DD, Gunaratne NM, Ashman H, Dunshea FR. Development of emotion lexicons to describe chocolate using the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) methodology across Asian and Western groups. Food Res Int. 2019 Jan;115:526-534. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.10.001. Epub 2018 Oct 2. PMID: 30599974.
Miller KB, Hurst WJ, Flannigan N, Ou B, Lee CY, Smith N, Stuart DA. Survey of commercially available chocolate- and cocoa-containing products in the United States. 2. Comparison of flavan-3-ol content with nonfat cocoa solids, total polyphenols, and percent cacao. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Oct 14;57(19):9169-80. doi: 10.1021/jf901821x. PMID: 19754118.
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