Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add the potatoes and the tablespoon of salt. Boil until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes then drain.
Step 2
While the potatoes are boiling, heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the onion, bell pepper, asparagus, and 1 teaspoon salt. Sauté until the vegetables are tender then transfer them to a bowl.
Step 3
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Brush the skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, place them in the skillet. Starting in the center, use a metal measuring cup to flatten them against the bottom of the skillet. Then use the side of the measuring cup to press them halfway up the sides. Check the “crust” to be sure the entire bottom of the skillet is covered. Drizzle the potatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy.
Step 4
While the crust is baking, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Fold in the shredded cheese, vegetables, remaining teaspoon of salt, and black pepper.
Step 5
When the crust in done, transfer the skillet to a heat-resistant pad or trivet. Carefully pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle the Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly across the top and return the skillet to the oven. Continue baking until the eggs are set, about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cool for 10 minutes before garnish with herbs, if desired, and cutting into wedges.
Hazelnut-Chocolate Spread Recipe, Spotlight on Hazelnut, Stress and Stroke Risk, plus Small Amounts of Physical Activity, Big Reductions in Dementia Risk
I love being able to share healthier ways of making favorite dishes, and the following recipe is a fun one! Hazelnut-chocolate spread is delicious slathered on a piece of toast or pound cake, used for ganache, cake frosting, or pudding…or when you just want a spoonful of comfort food. We all know how important mental health is, and a new study that found a link between stress and stroke in women is another reason to rein in this emotion. The other research I’m sharing is on avoiding dementia: how even small amounts of exercise—also a great stress reducer—can help.
It’s one of the world’s favorite spreads, yet most packaged hazelnut-chocolate blends are mostly palm oil (high in saturated fat) and sugar with minimal hazelnuts and chocolate. My recipe emphasizes the two flavors you’re craving and has a minimal amount of sugar. It also keeps in the fridge for weeks, though the spread will likely be gobbled up long before that.
Ingredients
8 ounces shelled and roasted hazelnuts
1 ounce dark chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar or equivalent
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Pinch of fine sea salt
Directions
Place the roasted hazelnuts in a high-powered blender or food processor and process until the nuts turn into a paste. Be patient—depending on your machine it could take 5 to 8 minutes. Add the melted chocolate, olive oil, cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and process until fairly smooth. Transfer to a lidded glass jar and refrigerate.
Yields about 1-1/2 cups
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Why Homemade Hazelnut Spread is Healthier
Most packaged hazelnut-chocolate spreads are mostly palm oil, one of the most highly saturated fats among plant-based oils. On average, hazelnuts account for under 15% of the ingredients. Rather than using pure vanilla, they often contain vanillin, an artificial version. With homemade, you get more nutrients from the nuts, olive oil, and cocoa.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Roasting Hazelnuts
Readers of our newsletter and Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club members alike know that one of my mantras is always roast your nuts! Roasting intensifies flavor, so it’s worth the few minutes it adds to prep time. Simply preheat your oven to 400°F, spread out the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet, and pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes or until you can smell their delicious aroma. If the nuts weren’t skinned, turn them onto a clean kitchen towel after roasting and rub vigorously to remove as much of the papery skin as you can.
For Your Best Health
Stress and Stroke Risk
According to a study published online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, some people living with chronic stress have a higher-than-average risk of stroke. The study looked at younger adults and found an association between stress and stroke among women but not among men. This study does not prove that stress causes stroke, only that there’s an association.
“Younger people often experience stress due to the demands and pressures associated with work, including long hours and job insecurity, as well as financial burdens,” said Nicolas Martinez-Majander, MD, PhD, of the Helsinki University Hospital in Finland. “Previous research has shown that chronic stress can negatively affect physical and mental health. Our study found it may increase the risk of stroke in younger women.”
For the study, researchers looked at 426 people ages 18 to 49 who had an ischemic stroke with no known cause. They were matched for age and sex with 426 people who did not have a stroke. An ischemic stroke is when blood flow is blocked to part of the brain. It can lead to weakness, trouble speaking, vision problems, and even death.
Participants completed a questionnaire about stress levels over a one-month period. Those who had a stroke were asked to record the stress levels they experienced in the month prior to the stroke through questions like “In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?” Scores for each question ranged from 0 to 4, with 4 meaning very often. A total score of 0 to 13 represented low stress; 14 to 26, moderate stress; and 27 to 40, high stress. Those who had a stroke had an average score of 13, compared to 10 for those who didn’t have a stroke.
People who had a stroke were more likely to have at least moderate stress levels. Of those who had a stroke, 46% had moderate or high stress levels, compared to 33% of those who did not have a stroke.
After adjusting for factors that could affect the risk of having a stroke, including education level, alcohol use, and blood pressure, researchers found that for female participants, moderate stress was associated with a 78% increased risk of having a stroke and high stress was associated with a 6% increased risk. Researchers did not find a link between stress and stroke in male participants.
“More research is needed to understand why women who feel stressed, but not men, may have a higher risk of stroke,” said Dr. Martinez-Majander. “In addition, we need to further explore why the risk of stroke in women was higher for moderate stress than high stress. Knowing more about how stress plays a role could help us create better ways to prevent these strokes.”
A limitation of the study was that people experiencing higher levels of stress may have been less likely to enroll in the study, which could have affected the results.
Fitness Flash
Small Amounts of Physical Activity, Big Reductions in Dementia Risk
A little movement could help prevent dementia, even for frail older adults, suggests a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. They found that engaging in as little as 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, compared to zero minutes per week, was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing dementia over an average four-year follow-up period. Even for frail older adults—those at elevated risk of adverse health outcomes—greater activity was associated with lower dementia risks.
Dementia, usually from Alzheimer’s disease, is one of the most common conditions of old age. It is estimated to affect about seven million people in the US, including about a third of those who are 85 years of age or older. Although the risk of dementia rises with age, studies in recent years have suggested that dementia is somewhat preventable, within a normal lifespan, with lifestyle changes that include better control of cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar, and being more active.
The minimum amount of activity needed to reduce dementia risk meaningfully isn’t yet clear. For many older individuals, especially frail ones, the high amounts of exercise recommended in official guidelines are unattainable and may discourage any exercise at all. Both the US Department of Health and Human Services and the UK National Health System recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, an average of 20 minutes per day.
For their analysis, the researchers analyzed a dataset of 89,667 adults, mostly in their 50s and older, who used wrist-worn accelerometers to track their physical activity for a week during the period from February 2013 to December 2015. Follow-up of their health status extended for an average of 4.4 years, during which 735 of the participants were diagnosed with dementia. (The data was generated as part of the UK Biobank project, a long-running, ongoing study of approximately 500,000 individuals.)
The analysis compared individuals whose trackers showed some weekly moderate to vigorous physical activity to those whose trackers showed none and accounted for age and other medical conditions. The associations between higher activity and lower dementia risk were striking.
Dementia risk was 60% lower in participants in the 35 to 69.9 minutes of physical activity/week category, 63% lower in the 70 to 139.9 minutes/week category, and 69% lower in the 140 and over minutes/week category. Participants in the lowest activity category, ranging from one to 34.9 minutes per week, had an apparent risk reduction of about 41%. The study also found that even frail or nearly frail older adults might be able to reduce their dementia risk through low-dose exercise.
“Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity, even as little as five minutes per day, can reduce dementia risk in older adults,” said study lead author Amal Wanigatunga, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the school’s department of epidemiology and a core faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health. “This adds to a growing body of evidence that some exercise is better than nothing, especially with regard to an aging-related disorder that affects the brain that currently has no cure.”
Dr. Wanigatunga noted that the study was not a clinical trial that established causation indicating that exercise reduces dementia risk, but its findings are consistent with that hypothesis. To check the possibility that their findings reflected undiagnosed dementia leading to lower physical activity, the researchers repeated their analysis but excluded dementia diagnoses in the first two years of follow-up. The association between more activity and lower dementia risk remained robust.
Dr. Wanigatunga and his colleagues recommend future clinical trial-type studies to investigate low-dose exercise as an important initial step toward increasing physical activity as a dementia-preventing strategy. Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute on Aging.
Smashed Potato Pie Recipe, Spotlight on New Potatoes, Sizing Up Cast-Iron Skillets, More Reasons to Boost Plant-Based Proteins and Easing Concerns About Soreness After Activity
Viewers of the Great British Baking Show know that pies with “soggy bottoms” are a top fear of its contestants. There are no worries about that with this crust made from potatoes—a tasty version of a quiche that’s a win-win. So are the two studies I’m sharing. One busts the myth that we experience greater muscle soreness after workouts, a concern that leads many to scale back on workouts unnecessarily. The second provides food for thought from research that included data from 101 countries: it found that there are longevity benefits to getting more daily protein from plants.
Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add the potatoes and the tablespoon of salt. Boil until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes then drain.
Step 2
While the potatoes are boiling, heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the onion, bell pepper, asparagus, and 1 teaspoon salt. Sauté until the vegetables are tender then transfer them to a bowl.
Step 3
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Brush the skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, place them in the skillet. Starting in the center, use a metal measuring cup to flatten them against the bottom of the skillet. Then use the side of the measuring cup to press them halfway up the sides. Check the “crust” to be sure the entire bottom of the skillet is covered. Drizzle the potatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy.
Step 4
While the crust is baking, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Fold in the shredded cheese, vegetables, remaining teaspoon of salt, and black pepper.
Step 5
When the crust in done, transfer the skillet to a heat-resistant pad or trivet. Carefully pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle the Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly across the top and return the skillet to the oven. Continue baking until the eggs are set, about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cool for 10 minutes before garnish with herbs, if desired, and cutting into wedges.
Yields 6 to 8 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
New Potatoes
New potatoes are early-harvest spuds, just as rich in vitamin B6 and potassium as more mature ones but sweeter. Their thin, tender skins don’t need to be peeled, but they’re also more delicate—buy only what you’ll use within a week or two at most, and store in a paper bag in the fridge. Wash just before using, but don’t scrub or you risk wearing away the nutrient-rich skin. These potatoes also cook up fast. When drizzled with olive oil and roasted, the skins crisp up while the flesh becomes creamy—heavenly!
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Sizing Up Cast-Iron Skillets
Many chefs love cast iron because of how well it retains heat, resulting in more even cooking. But most people own just one cast-iron skillet, if they own any. And chances are it’s either 10 or 12 inches. So, you might be surprised to learn that they come as small as 3-1/2 inches—great for making one perfect fried egg—and as large as 17 inches, and sometimes more. Another thing that might come as a surprise is that these pans can be either smooth or rough surfaced. Smooth surfaces are better for cooking delicate foods, like a fish fillet, without sticking. They’re also more expensive because of the manufacturing process needed to create that smoothness.
For Your Best Health
More Reasons to Boost Plant-Based Proteins
A global study published in Nature Communications by experts at the University of Sydney has shown that people around the world who consume more plant-based proteins, such as chickpeas, tofu, and peas, have longer life expectancies. Alistair Senior, PhD, PhD candidate Caitlin Andrews, and their team at the Charles Perkins Centre studied food supply and demographic data between 1961 and 2018 from 101 countries to understand whether the type of protein consumed had an impact on longevity.
Said Andrews, “Our study suggests a mixed picture when it comes to comparing the health impacts of meat- [and] plant-based protein at a population level. For the under-5s, a food system that supplies large amounts of animal-based proteins and fats, such as meat, eggs, and dairy, lowered rates of infant mortality. However, for adults, the reverse was true, where plant-based proteins increased overall life expectancy.”
To understand the impact of plant- and animal-based protein diets on human longevity, the researchers analyzed publicly available data about the food supply across a 60-year period. The data included the amount of food produced per country, along with the levels of calories, proteins, and fats. The countries studied represented a range of food systems, including those where the consumption of animal-based protein is higher, such as Australia, the US, Sweden, and Argentina, and those where the consumption of plant-based foods is more prevalent, such as Pakistan and Indonesia.
To compare the impact of different countries’ food supplies on life expectancy, the researchers corrected the data to account for differences in wealth and population size between countries. They then found that countries where the overall availability of plant-based proteins was higher, such as India, people had relatively longer life expectancies than countries where animal-based proteins were more readily available, such as in the US.
Eating high levels of animal-based protein, particularly processed meat, has long been linked to a range of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Plant proteins, including legumes, nuts, and whole grains, are associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases and overall mortality rates, with studies suggesting that plant-based diets have contributed to longevity in the most long-lived communities on the planet, such as Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria Greece; and Loma Linda, California.
“Protein is a crucial part of the human diet, but as eating habits change and developed countries look to decarbonize, where we get our protein from has come under greater scrutiny,” said Dr. Senior. “The knowledge that plant-based protein is associated with a longer life is really important as we consider not only how our diets impact our own longevity, but the health of the planet.”
Fitness Flash
Easing Concerns About Soreness After Activity
A study done by researchers from multiple institutions in the UK, published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, has overturned the widespread belief that aging muscles are less resilient; they found that older adults experience less muscle soreness than their younger counterparts.
The research provided a comprehensive analysis of how aging affects muscle function, soreness, and biochemical markers of muscle damage after exercise. By pooling data from 36 studies, the scientists found that older adults do not experience greater muscle function loss after exercise than younger individuals. Younger adults were categorized as between 18 and 25 years old and older adults more than 35 years old.
The findings suggest that, despite physiological changes with age, muscle resilience remains relatively stable, allowing older people to continue engaging in regular physical activity without increased concern for prolonged weakness or loss of function.
One striking discovery was that muscle soreness was consistently lower in older adults, around 34 percent at 48 hours and 62 percent at 72 hours, compared with soreness in younger individuals. Creatine kinase level, an indicator of muscle damage, was approximately 28 percent lower in older adults at 24 hours post-exercise.
Interestingly, sex appeared to play a role in muscle function recovery, with males showing slightly greater decreases in muscle function after exercise than females. There was no observed impact of upper- or lower-body or exercise type (resistance training or endurance training) on muscle damage markers.
“These findings are significant because they challenge the widespread belief that aging muscles recover more slowly or are more prone to exercise-induced damage. This misconception often discourages older adults from engaging in regular physical activity due to fears of prolonged soreness or weakness,” said senior author Lawrence Hayes, PhD, of Lancaster University Medical School.
If older individuals experience less muscle damage symptoms than previously thought, recovery strategies, training programs, and post-exercise care could be adjusted accordingly. For example, older adults may not require significantly prolonged recovery periods compared with younger individuals, potentially allowing for more frequent or intense training sessions, leading to better long-term health outcomes.
Overall, this study reinforces the importance of staying active throughout life and dispels myths that aging equates to frailty or impaired recovery. These findings could contribute to greater participation in fitness activities among older adults, improving overall health, mobility, and quality of life.
“This means exercise has no age limit, so move more to live longer and healthier,” Dr. Hayes said. “Aim for 150 minutes of activity each week, add strength training twice per week, and most importantly, find a workout you love. When you enjoy it, you’re more likely to stick with it.”
Individual Lemon-Olive Oil Soufflés Recipe, Spotlight on Vanilla and Ramekins, Screening for Bone Density and Exercise to Reduce Falls
Will it rise? Will it fall? Those are the common concerns of the soufflé baker. But making dessert soufflés isn’t as nerve-racking as you might think. The real secret is to serve a soufflé as soon as you take it out of the oven. Soufflés wait for no one and will start to fall after a few minutes, but if your guests are at the table, spoons in hand, there will only be oohs and aahs, not oh-no’s. This recipe brings together two of my favorite flavors: lemon and olive oil. I’m also sharing another key pairing, this one for bone health: the importance of tests to check on bone density and the benefits of exercise to prevent falls and the risk of a bone fracture.
Making a curd and then folding it into stiff egg whites makes the prep for these luscious soufflés easy. You can even make the curd a day in advance and store it along with the egg whites (in a separate container) in the fridge—just take out the whites 30 minutes before you’re ready to cook because they whip better at room temperature. (The addition of a small amount of cream of tartar helps them stay firm.) Using individual ramekins makes it’s easier to judge when they’re ready compared to a large soufflé that can puff yet still be soupy in the middle. Firm on the top, the centers will still be creamy.
Ingredients
4 large eggs
3 large or 5 small lemons
1 cup sugar, divided use
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of fine sea salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Separate the eggs while still cold; set aside to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Step 2
Rinse the lemons and dry them thoroughly, then zest them with a microplane grater. You should have a generous tablespoon of zest. Juice the lemons; you should have a generous cup of juice. Some pulp is fine to leave in but remove any seeds.
Step 3
Whisk the egg yolks in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, then whisk in 1/2 cup sugar; add the lemon juice and zest, flour, vanilla, and salt.
Step 4
Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a very low boil, whisking constantly. Cook for 2 minutes to activate the flour, lowering the heat if necessary to prevent a rapid boil. The curd should be thick enough to coat the whisk.
Step 5
Off the heat, slowly whisk in the olive oil and continue whisking until completely blended. Allow the curd to come to room temperature before proceeding. (Pour it into a glass bowl, cover, and refrigerate if making in advance).
Step 6
When the lemon mixture has cooled, preheat your oven to 375°F with a rack in the center position. Prepare four 8-ounce ramekins by brushing the inside surfaces with the butter and then dusting each with a scant tablespoon of sugar. Invert each ramekin and tap on the bottom to remove any excess sugar; set them aside.
Step 7
Whip the egg whites on low speed for 1 minute to break them up, then add the remaining 4 tablespoons sugar and the cream of tartar. Increase the speed to high and whip until firm peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Step 8
Using a spatula, fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the lemon curd to loosen it, then fold in the rest of the whites in a gentle motion to avoid deflating them. When only a few streaks of curd remain, spoon equal amounts into the ramekins; the mixture should almost reach the rim. Smooth the tops with a small offset spatula.
Step 9
Place the ramekins on a rimmed sheet pan and place the pan in the oven. Bake until the soufflés rise an inch or so above the rims of the ramekins and the tops feel firm to the touch, about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Serve within 5 minutes with a drizzle of olive oil, a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, and a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Vanilla Varieties
Chocolate lovers are often shocked to hear that vanilla is the more popular of the two flavors, at least when it comes to ice cream. The one thing that both have in common is the complex process that goes into turning their raw ingredients into delectable essentials.
Vanilla comes from the beans, or pods, of the orchid Vanilla planifolia, a vine that can grow to nearly 50 feet in length. But it takes careful pollination for the vine to bear fruit. This happens naturally only in Mexico, where the hard work is done by indigenous Melipona bees. Most of the world’s vanilla now comes from Madagascar, Indonesia, and Tahiti, where pollination is done by hand. It can take up to three years before the vine makes flowers, and the beans they produce must stay on the vine for nine months. Then the labor-intensive process of drying the pods begins. It’s no wonder that true vanilla is expensive. But, as with extra virgin olive oil, not everything labeled vanilla is real vanilla. In fact, the word “pure” is often used on the labels of imitation vanilla made from the synthetic vanillin, so you need to read the fine print when you’re buying anything other than whole beans. It’s estimated that 95% of products called vanilla are complete imitations.
Whole vanilla beans are long, thin brown pods brimming with seeds that have been dried—but shouldn’t be dried out. They offer the most intense vanilla flavor. To release the seeds, score the length of the bean with a sharp paring knife and then use the side of the knife to scrape them all out. Nothing goes to waste: Bury the leftover pod in a jar of sugar to make your own vanilla sugar to add depth of flavor to recipes that call for sugar and to use as a sweetener in drinks.
The most readily available form of vanilla is extract, the result of steeping ground beans in alcohol (this is why real vanilla extract has a high alcohol content). You will see other ingredients, typically sugars.
Another option is vanilla bean paste, a thickened version of extract brimming with vanilla seeds. It’s wonderful when you want a lot of flavor along with the visual appeal of the seeds—perfect for ice creams and puddings. When you don’t want flecks, in a pavlova for instance, use extract.
Vanilla bean paste and extract can be used interchangeably, teaspoon for teaspoon. If you want the deeper flavor of a vanilla bean, keep in mind that the seeds in one bean are equal to about 2 teaspoons of extract or paste.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Ramekins
An easy way to conquer fears over making a soufflé is to use individual ramekins rather than one large soufflé dish. Both are flat-bottomed porcelain bakeware with straight sides and a fluted outer detail, but ramekins shorten cooking time significantly (a large soufflé can take up to 45 minutes to fully cook and rise). They also make a pretty presentation.
For Your Best Health
Screening for Bone Density
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently issued updates to its 2018 osteoporosis screening recommendations. While the guidelines still emphasize the need for bone density screenings to prevent fractures in women 65 years or older, the task force now recommends the imaging test called the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DEXA, scan. It uses a low-dose X-ray to quickly examine the hips, lumbar spine, and sometimes forearm to evaluate bone mineral levels. The images are compared to those of a typical 35-year-old and results are given in T-scores. A T-score of -1 or higher means your bones are healthy; a score of -1 to -2.5 indicates osteopenia, a mild version of bone loss; and a score of lower than -2.5 may mean osteoporosis.
The test is now also recommended for postmenopausal women younger than 65 years who are at increased risk for an osteoporotic fracture. Risk factors include having a family history of osteoporosis, being underweight, having a history of recent fractures, having rheumatoid arthritis, or having taken certain medications such as steroids or some forms of chemotherapy. The prior recommendation for women in this group was just to use a clinical assessment tool to evaluate a risk.
The USPSTF is now highlighting the use of the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) as a supplement to a bone mineral density screening. The FRAX score is your risk, based on statistics, of having a major osteoporotic event in the next 10 years. If you’re less than a 10 percent risk, it means that in the next 10 years there’s a 90 percent chance that you will not break a bone. It’s not a guarantee, but it means statistically you are strong enough that even if you fall and break a bone, you should be OK.
Those in the medium range have between a 10 and 20 percent chance that if they fall they will end up with a broken hip or other major break. If you’re high risk, you have a 30 percent chance for a major event and your doctor will likely recommend lifestyle improvements and medications. The risk of a person who is older than 65 dying in the first year after having a hip fracture is around 30 percent.
The USPSTF found that there isn’t enough evidence to say that men should be screened for osteoporosis to prevent fractures. Men should talk to their doctors about whether to screen; this decision should be based on each individual’s risk factors.
Fitness Flash
Exercise to Reduce Falls
A new smart insole system that monitors how people walk in real time could help improve posture and provide early warnings for conditions from plantar fasciitis to Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. Constructed using 22 small pressure sensors and fueled by small solar panels on the tops of shoes, the system offers real-time health tracking based on how a person walks, which is a biomechanical process as unique as a human fingerprint.
This data can then be transmitted via Bluetooth to a smartphone for a quick and detailed analysis, said Jinghua Li, PhD, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at The Ohio State University. “Our bodies carry lots of useful information that we’re not even aware of,” said Dr. Li. “These statuses also change over time, so it’s our goal to use electronics to extract and decode those signals to encourage better self-healthcare checks.”
It’s estimated that at least 7% of Americans suffer from ambulatory difficulties, often having a hard time with basic activities that include walking, running, and climbing stairs. While efforts to manufacture a wearable insole-based pressure system have risen in popularity in recent years, many previous prototypes were met with energy limitations and unstable performances. To overcome the challenges of their precursors, Dr. Li and Qi Wang, the lead author of the study and a current PhD candidate at Ohio State, sought to ensure that their wearable is durable, has a high degree of precision when collecting and analyzing data, and can provide consistent and reliable power.
“Our device is innovative in terms of high resolution, spatial sensing, self-powering capability, and its ability to combine with machine learning algorithms,” she said. “So, we feel like this research can go further based on the pioneering successes of this field.”
Their system is also unique because of its use of AI. Thanks to an advanced machine learning model, the wearable can recognize eight different motion states, from static ones like sitting and standing to more dynamic movements such as running and squatting. Since the materials used for the insoles are flexible and safe, the device, much like a smartwatch, is low risk and appropriate for continuous use. For instance, after the solar cells convert sunlight to energy, that power is stored in tiny lithium batteries that don’t harm the user or affect daily activities.
Because of the distribution of sensors from toe to heel, the researchers could see how the pressure on parts of the foot is different in activities such as walking versus running. During walking, pressure is applied sequentially from the heel to the toes, whereas during running, almost all sensors are subjected to pressure simultaneously. In addition, during walking, the pressure application time accounts for about half of the total time, while during running, it accounts for only about a quarter.
The smart insoles could support gait analysis to detect early abnormalities associated with foot pressure-related conditions like diabetic foot ulcers, musculoskeletal disorders such as plantar fasciitis, and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
Because the system uses machine learning to learn and classify different types of motion, it offers opportunities for personalized health management, including real-time posture correction, injury prevention, and rehabilitation monitoring. Customized fitness training may also be a future use, the researchers said. “The interface is flexible and quite thin, so even during repetitive deformation, it can remain functional,” said Dr. Li. “The combination of the software and hardware means it isn’t as limited.”
Researchers expect the technology will likely be available commercially within the next three to five years. Next steps to advance the work will be aimed at improving the system’s gesture recognition abilities, which, according to Dr. Li, will likely be helped with further testing on more diverse populations. “We have so many variations among individuals, so demonstrating and training these fantastic capabilities on different populations is something we need to give further attention to,” she said.
