Creamy Tortellini with Spring Peas Recipe, Spotlight on Peas, Grating Nutmeg, Exercise to Combat Cravings plus Managing Back Pain

Warm weather means more time spent outdoors and less time in the kitchen, but I still want to enjoy delicious meals that tap into wonderful seasonal foods. My quick and creamy tortellini with peas recipe fit the bill and take only about 10 minutes after the water boils! You’ll also find results of two studies that looked at common problems for so many people—how to curb cravings that stand in the way of a healthier diet and how to ease low back pain that can stop you in your tracks.

Creamy Tortellini with Spring Peas

• Creamy Tortellini with Spring Peas

  This simple dish makes for a fast and fresh spring meal. The creaminess of the mascarpone combined with the delicate pop of the peas is a fan favorite in our house.

  Ingredients

  • 16 ounces cheese tortellini, fresh or frozen
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 cup freshly shelled peas (about 1 pound in the shell)
  • 8 ounces mascarpone 
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste 
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or to taste
  • Coarse salt to taste 
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano 

  Directions

  Step 1

  Bring four quarts of salted water to a boil and cook the tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat a small sauté pan and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sauté the peas over low heat for 3 minutes until tender and bright green and then transfer to a large mixing bowl. 

  Step 2

  When the tortellini are done, use a large strainer to transfer them to the bowl with the peas. Immediately fold in the mascarpone—the heat of the pasta will melt it, creating a sauce—and mix well to distribute the peas. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it. Season liberally with black pepper and nutmeg (use a microplane to grate it right over the bowl), and add salt to taste. 

  Step 3

  Transfer to a serving platter, top with the grated Parmigiano, and drizzle on the final tablespoon of olive oil. Serve at room temperature. 

  Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Three Peas in Pods

Sweet peas, sugar snap peas, and pea pods are all members of the legume family and good sources of vitamins A, C, and K; folate; potassium and magnesium; and fiber. They can all be eaten raw or cooked, but there are some differences among them. Sweet peas are the only ones that need shelling—the pods aren’t edible. Pea pods, best known as an ingredient in Asian cuisines, are primarily pods with small or no peas inside—they’re picked before the peas have a chance to develop. Sugar snap peas are a cross between the two other varieties—edible pods filled with edible peas—and give you all the flavor of sweet peas plus the crunch of the pods. With pea pods and sugar snap peas, you may need to remove the strings along the edges before eating. Because all peas can quickly become overcooked, make them separately and fold them into the rest of a dish or add them at the very end of the cooking process. 

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Get Grating

Nutmeg is a sweet and fragrant spice that comes from the Banda Islands in Indonesia. Marble-sized whole nutmegs are the inner parts of the seed of an evergreen tree called Myristica fragrant. Though nutmeg is sold ground, you’ll get the best flavor by grating whole nutmeg as needed, either with a microplane or on the box grater side with the smallest holes. You might think of nutmeg only for spice-rich fall baking, but it’s also a popular ingredient in filled Italian pastas, so it adds the perfect note to this week’s tortellini recipe.

For Your Best Health

Intense Exercise Combats Cravings 

A provocative lab study from researchers at Washington State University and the University of Wyoming could hold the secret for curbing cravings. Their experiment tested a way to resist “incubation of craving,” a phenomenon first identified by scientists at Western Washington University that postulates that the longer you deny yourself something you crave, the harder it is to ignore the craving signals. 

Their results showed that lab rats that did high-intensity treadmill running for 30 days exhibited less desire for their high-fat food, which they’d been denied during that period. This shows that exercise can shore up restraint when it comes to certain foods, says Travis Brown, PhD, a physiology and neuroscience researcher and associate professor at Washington State and corresponding author of the study published in the journal Obesity. Dr. Brown adds, “A really important part of maintaining a diet is to have some brain power—the ability to say ‘no, I may be craving that, but I’m going to abstain.’ Exercise could not only be beneficial physically for weight loss but also mentally for gaining control over cravings for unhealthy foods.”

We still don’t know whether food can be addictive in the same way as drugs are—and certainly not all foods spark cravings. As Dr. Brown points out, “No one binge eats broccoli.” But many people seem to respond to cues, such as fast-food ads, encouraging them to eat foods high in fat or sugar, and those cues may be harder to resist the longer they diet. The ability to disregard these signals may be yet another way exercise improves health.

In future studies, the research team plans to investigate the effect of different levels of exercise on this type of craving as well as how exactly exercise works in the brain to curb the desire for unhealthy foods. 

Fitness Flash

Help for That Aching Back

Sometimes constant lower back pain that has no apparent cause can have a mental component. Fear of pain keeps people from moving, and not moving can make pain worse and even create a vicious cycle that leads to anxiety and depression. Finding the best way to address both the physical and the mental consequences of back pain was the goal behind a research review led by Emma Ho and Paulo Ferreira of the University of Sydney in Australia.

They looked at 97 studies that evaluated the effects of various types of psychological interventions—cognitive behavioral therapies, mindfulness, counseling, pain education programs, and two or more combined approaches—when given along with physiotherapy, or a structured exercise regimen, for chronic lower back pain. 

They found that, compared with physiotherapy alone, adding a psychological intervention was more effective for improving physical function and pain intensity. Some interventions had different effects than others. For instance, both cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and pain education delivered with physiotherapy led to noticeable improvements in physical function up to 2 months after treatment, with the clinical benefits of pain education lasting up to 6 months.

In terms of lessening pain intensity, behavioral therapy, CBT, and pain education delivered with physiotherapy each led to improvement up to 2 months after treatment, with the effects of behavioral therapy lasting up to 12 months. CBT also helped lessen the fear of exercise for up to 2 months after treatment, but the most sustainable effects in this area came from pain education programs.

Though there were differences in the ways the various studies that the researchers reviewed were conducted and longer term results are unknown, they did conclude that their findings “can be used to inform clearer guideline recommendations regarding the use of specific psychological interventions for managing chronic, non-specific low back pain and support decision making for patients and clinicians.”

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Figs Alla Modena Recipe, Spotlight on Figs, Cutting Calories for Longevity and A Fun Rehabilitation Alternative for Back Pain

Simplicity is a wonderful thing when it comes to food. Dishes with more emphasis on presentation than preparation mean treats for the eyes with little time or effort. I love letting the real flavors of foods shine through, and this week’s fig and cheese antipasto is a classic example. I’m also giving you all the fig facts you need to encourage you to try this delectable fruit if you’ve shied away from it until now! You’ll also find provocative results from a study that shows the life-extending benefits of a small calorie restriction, plus a fun alternative to traditional forms of rehab for back pain.

Figs Alla Modena

• Figs alla Modena

  There are many vinegar bottles labeled “balsamic,” but the real thing must come from Modena, Italy. Just a few drops of a true balsamic will bring out the flavors of all the other ingredients in this dish. When figs aren’t available, substitute berries, pears, or peaches.

  Ingredients

  • 8 slices of prosciutto
  • 8-ounce log of fresh goat cheese, sliced into thin medallions
  • 8 fresh figs, halved
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon best-quality balsamic vinegar di Modena

  Directions

  Step 1

  Arrange the slices of prosciutto around the perimeter of a serving platter or charcuterie board. Moving toward the center, make a ring of goat cheese slices and then place the fig halves in the center.

  Step 2

  Drizzle everything with the olive oil and balsamic.

  Yields 8 appetizer or 4 luncheon servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Fabulous figs

When it comes to sweet fresh fruit, figs are overlooked in the US. But they’re a staple in Mediterranean countries and a wonderful way to dress a salad. On their own, they make a delicious yet simple snack or dessert. 

One fig has between 25 and 40 calories depending on size, plus fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium. The minerals are concentrated in dried figs, which you can keep in your pantry. (If you’re sensitive to sulfites, look for figs dried without this preservative.)

You’re most likely to see American-grown figs at market starting in late summer, with dried varieties available year-round:

• Brown Turkey figs have copper-flecked golden-yellow skin when ripe and mostly pink flesh. 
• Celeste figs are purplish-brown when ripe and have dark-purple flesh.
• Calimyrna figs have yellow-green to golden skin that deepens when dried and a golden-brown center. 
• Mission figs have a deep-purple skin that turns black when dried, which explains why they’re often called Black Mission figs. The fresh flesh is deep pink.
• Kadota figs have yellow-green skin and deep-pink flesh. 

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Storing figs

One reason for the reluctance around figs might be their short shelf life—just-picked figs are fresh for a week or less. But you can extend their freshness by storing them in the fridge for up to two weeks. Just be careful not to buy overripe figs unless you’ll be eating them immediately. Ripe figs are tender, like a ripe peach, but should not feel mushy.

For Your Best Health

Consider cutting calories for longevity

A study led by Yale researchers and published in the February 10, 2022, issue of Science confirms the health benefits of moderate calorie restrictions. The research was based on results from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) clinical trial, the first controlled study of calorie restriction in healthy people. One group of participants reduced their calorie intake by 14%, while the others continued to eat as usual. The researchers analyzed the long-term health effects of calorie restriction over the following two years.

“We know that chronic low-grade inflammation in humans is a major trigger of many chronic diseases and, therefore, has a negative effect on life span,” said Vishwa Deep Dixit, DVM, PhD, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Pathology, Immunobiology, and Comparative Medicine, senior author of the study, and director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging. “Here we’re asking: What is calorie restriction doing to the immune and metabolic systems and if it is indeed beneficial, how can we harness the endogenous pathways that mimic its effects in humans?”

Dixit and his team analyzed the thymus, a gland that sits above the heart and produces T cells, an essential part of the immune system. The thymus ages at a faster rate than other organs. By the time healthy adults reach the age of 40, said Dixit, 70% of the thymus is already fatty and nonfunctional. And as it ages, the thymus produces fewer T cells. “As we get older, we begin to feel the absence of new T cells because the ones we have left aren’t great at fighting new pathogens,” said Dixit. “That’s one of the reasons why elderly people are at greater risk for illness.”

MRIs on study participants found the thymus glands of those restricting calories had less fat and greater functional volume after two years of calorie restriction—they were producing more T cells than at the start of the study. None of these changes were seen in participants not restricting calories. “The fact that this organ can be rejuvenated is, in my view, stunning because there is very little evidence of that happening in humans,” said Dixit. “That this is even possible is very exciting.”

The researchers also found that changes were happening within fat cells. Body fat is very important, Dixit said, because it hosts a robust immune system. There are several types of immune cells in fat, and when they are aberrantly activated, they become a source of inflammation.

“We found remarkable changes in the gene expression of adipose tissue after one year that were sustained through year two,” said Dixit. “This revealed some genes that were implicated in extending life in animals but also unique calorie restriction-mimicking targets that may improve metabolic and anti-inflammatory response in humans.”

A specific gene, PLA2G7, was significantly inhibited following calorie restriction. Based on a separate lab study, it turns out that inhibiting PLA2G7 protects against inflammation.

“These findings demonstrate that PLA2G7 is one of the drivers of the effects of calorie restriction,” said Dixit. “Identifying these drivers helps us understand how the metabolic system and the immune system talk to each other, which can point us to potential targets that can improve immune function, reduce inflammation, and potentially even enhance healthy lifespan.”

“There’s so much debate about what type of diet is better—low carbohydrates or fat, increased protein, intermittent fasting, etc.—and I think time will tell which of these are important,” said Dixit. “But CALERIE is a very well-controlled study that shows a simple reduction in calories…has a remarkable effect in terms of biology and shifting the immuno-metabolic state in a direction that’s protective of human health. So, from a public health standpoint, I think it gives hope.”

Fitness Flash

Back pain? Get into the pool

A study published in JAMA Network Open found that three months of therapeutic water exercise for 60 minutes twice a week was even more effective than physical therapy treatments using TENS (transcutaneous electrical stimulation) and infrared thermal therapy in helping ease chronic low back pain. The water exercise lessened the participants’ pain and improved their functioning, quality of life, sleep quality, and mental state. What’s more, the benefits could still be felt at the 12-month mark. The researchers suggest this could be because water exercises are active therapy, whereas the PT treatments are passive. If you’re looking for low back pain relief, ask your doctor if water therapy could be right for you.

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