Poke bowls are still very popular, but it’s not always easy to buy the sushi-grade tuna needed to make your own. This variation includes sautéed chunks of salmon instead of ahi. The technique is also great if you like tuna but prefer it cooked. I’ve suggested many veggies to fill up your bowl, but have fun choosing other ingredients—be guided by what’s most fresh at your market.
Ingredients
For the fish:
1 pound skinless salmon fillet, wild caught if possible
1 tablespoon regular or reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use
For the spicy mayo:
1/4 cup best-quality mayonnaise
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sriracha, or to taste
For the spicy bowls:
3 cups cooked quinoa or brown or white rice
1 large cucumber, diced
3 scallions, trimmed and sliced into small pieces on the diagonal
1 cup shelled edamame
2 large avocados, cubed or cut into thin slices
2 tablespoons black or white sesame seeds or a mix
Optional: red onion rings, sliced tomatoes, shredded carrots, chopped red cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and other fresh veggies of your choice
Directions
Step 1
Using a sharp knife, cut the salmon into 1-inch chunks. Add to a glass bowl with the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss well and set aside for 30 minutes.
Step 2
Make the spicy mayo: In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise and the olive oil until well blended, then mix in the sriracha; set aside.
Step 3
Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the rest of the olive oil and the salmon chunks. Sear on all sides, using tongs to turn the pieces. When cooked through, remove the pan from the heat.
Step 4
Assemble the ingredients in four deep bowls: Center equal amounts of the cooked grains, then top with the vegetables and then the salmon chunks. Use a fork to drizzle on the spicy mayo, then sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
Wilted Spinach Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette Recipe, Spotlight on Spinach, The Great Egg Debate Continues, and How Sleep Patterns Influence Health
Spinach salad is a perennial favorite, simple to prepare, satisfying, and chock-full of nutrients. Wilting the spinach before composing the salad was a foodie trend back in the 1970s (the fixings included mandarin orange segments, a nod to the value of eating a food containing vitamin C at the same meal as spinach to better access the green’s iron). My update adds the tasty crunch of hazelnuts. You’ll be intrigued by a new report that suggests fortified eggs may not pose the cholesterol risks of regular eggs. I’m also sharing the latest research on the perils of poor sleep—motivation to improve the quality of your shut-eye.
Fast-forward 50 years from wilted spinach salad’s debut to this version that offers all the benefits of olive oil in the dressing and the prep. Rather than bothering with croutons, try toasted slices of whole-grain bread for its hearty appeal.
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the salad:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
8 ounces baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium- or hard-boiled eggs (your preference) quartered
1 ounce hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
Optional: 2 slices whole grain bread, toasted and brushed with olive oil
Directions
Step 1
Make the vinaigrette: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, shallot, and thyme. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the red onions; sauté over medium heat until soft. Push them to the outside of the pan and add the mushrooms in one layer; cook until the edges have browned, then flip and brown on the other side. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl.
Step 3
Add the last tablespoon of olive oil to the hot pan along with the garlic and the spinach, adding the spinach by handfuls—as one batch starts to wilt, push it to the side and add another, stirring quickly. It should only take 2-3 minutes to do it all.
Step 4
Arrange the spinach in two large bowls and top with equal amounts of onions, mushrooms, eggs, and hazelnuts. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. If desired, add a slice of toast to one side of each bowl.
Makes 2 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Spinach: Maximizing Its Nutrients
It’s no secret that, as a leafy green, spinach is a healthy food. What is less well known is that your body will better process two of its key nutrients, iron and calcium, when the spinach is cooked. That’s because it also contains oxalic acid, which blocks the minerals’ absorption unless the oxalates are broken down under high-heat cooking. If your recipe doesn’t include sautéing, another option is to plunge the spinach into boiling water for 60 seconds and then right into a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process and keep it a brighter green.
To get more of the iron when eating spinach raw, add a vitamin C food, like orange segments, to your meal.
Your body absorbs more folate and lutein when eating spinach raw, so varying your prep is a good idea.
More reasons to eat spinach: It’s also rich in vitamins K, C, A, E, and B6 as well as folate and riboflavin and in the minerals manganese, magnesium, copper, and potassium. It has many carotenoids, among other antioxidants, to protect cell health and guard against inflammation.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
A Better Type of Frozen Spinach
When fresh isn’t available, frozen can be a good substitute. The key to more flavorful frozen spinach is to select leaf spinach rather than chopped spinach. The leaves go through a lot less processing, translating to better taste and less freezer burn. Of course, look for pure spinach—no added salt or any other ingredients.
For Your Best Health
The Next Round in the “Are Eggs Healthy?” Debate
Because eggs contain some saturated fat, which is linked to higher cholesterol levels, there’s been much research on finding the right number of eggs to eat per week to help keep cholesterol in line. Results from a prospective controlled trial presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session offer positive news for egg lovers. One hundred and forty patients with or at high risk for cardiovascular disease were enrolled in the PROSPERITY study and divided into two groups to assess the effects of eating 12 or more fortified eggs a week versus a non-egg diet (fewer than two eggs a week) on HDL and LDL cholesterol and other key markers of cardiovascular health, including lipid, cardiometabolic, and inflammatory biomarkers and levels of vitamins and minerals. At the end of the four-month study period, cholesterol levels were similar in the two groups.
“We know that cardiovascular disease is, to some extent, mediated through risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased BMI, and diabetes. Dietary patterns and habits can have a notable influence on these, and there’s been a lot of conflicting information about whether or not eggs are safe to eat, especially for people who have or are at risk for heart disease,” said Nina Nouhravesh, MD, a research fellow at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, and the study’s lead author. “This is a small study, but it gives us reassurance that eating fortified eggs is OK with regard to lipid effects over four months, even among a more high-risk population.”
Dr. Nouhravesh and her team looked specifically at fortified eggs as they contain less saturated fat and have additional vitamins and minerals such as iodine; vitamins D, B2, 5, and 12; selenium; and omega-3 fatty acids. All the participants were 50 years of age or older (the average age was 66 years), half were female, and 27% were African American. All had experienced one prior cardiovascular event or had two cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased BMI, and/or diabetes.
Participants had in-person clinic visits at the start of the study and visits at one and four months to take vital signs and have bloodwork done; phone check-ins occurred at two and three months. People in the fortified egg group were asked about their weekly egg consumption, and those with low adherence were given additional educational materials.
Results showed a -0.64 mg/dL and a -3.14 mg/dL reduction in so-called good HDL cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol, respectively, in the fortified egg group. While not statistically significant, the differences suggest, according to the researchers, that eating 12 fortified eggs each week had no adverse effect on blood cholesterol. In terms of secondary endpoints, researchers observed a numerical reduction in total cholesterol, LDL particle number, another lipid biomarker called apoB, high-sensitivity troponin (a marker of heart damage), and insulin resistance scores in the fortified egg group, while vitamin B increased.
“While this is a neutral study, we did not observe adverse effects on biomarkers of cardiovascular health and there were signals of potential benefits of eating fortified eggs that warrant further investigation in larger studies as they are more hypothesis generating here,” Dr. Nouhravesh said, explaining that subgroup analyses revealed numerical increases in HDL cholesterol and reductions in LDL cholesterol in patients 65 years or older and those with diabetes in the fortified egg group compared with those eating fewer than two eggs.
Note that what you eat with your eggs counts: buttered toast and bacon and other processed meats are not heart-healthy choices. As always, Dr. Nouhravesh said, it’s a good idea for people with heart disease to talk with their doctor about a heart-healthy diet.
It’s important to point out that this was a single-center study with a small size and reliance on patients’ self-reporting of their egg consumption and other dietary patterns. It was also an unblinded study, which means patients knew what study group they were in, which can influence their health behaviors, and it was funded by Eggland’s Best, a company that offers eggs from cage-free and pasture-raised/free-range hens.
Fitness Flash
How Your Sleep Pattern Influences Your Health
Poor sleep habits are strongly associated with long-term chronic health conditions, according to decades of research. To better understand this relationship, researchers led by Soomi Lee, PhD, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development, identified four distinct patterns that characterize how most people sleep and how they correlate to overall health. Results were published in Psychosomatic Medicine.
Using a national sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, they gathered data on approximately 3,700 participants’ sleep habits and chronic health conditions across two time points 10 years apart. The data included self-reported sleep habits, including sleep regularity and duration, perceived sleep satisfaction, and daytime alertness, as well as the number and type of chronic conditions they had.
With that information, the researchers identified these four different sleep patterns:
Good sleepers with optimal sleep habits across all data points
Weekend catch-up sleepers with irregular sleep, specifically short average sleep duration, but longer sleep times on weekends or non-workdays
Insomnia sleepers with sleep problems related to clinical insomnia symptoms, including short sleep duration, high daytime tiredness, and a long time to fall asleep
Nappers with mostly good sleep but frequent daytime naps
The MIDUS study may not represent the entire population, researchers said, as it primarily comprises healthy adults, but they still found that more than half the participants were insomnia sleepers or nappers, both suboptimal sleep patterns. Additionally, being an insomnia sleeper over the 10-year period was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression. Results also showed that people were unlikely to change their sleep pattern over the course of the 10 years, especially the insomnia sleepers and nappers.
“These results may suggest that it is very difficult to change our sleep habits because sleep health is embedded into our overall lifestyle. It may also suggest that people still don’t know about the importance of their sleep and about sleep health behaviors,” Dr. Lee said. “We need to make more efforts to educate the public about good sleep health. There are sleep hygiene behaviors that people could do to improve their sleep, such as not using cell phones in bed, exercising regularly and avoiding caffeine in the late afternoon.”
While the sleep patterns were seemingly not age-related, researchers found that older adults and retirees were more likely to be nappers. They also found that those with less education and those facing unemployment were more likely to be insomnia sleepers.
According to Dr. Lee, the fact that phase of life and economic conditions can influence long-standing sleep patterns suggests that societal and neighborhood influences—including economic stressors and access to health resources—may have significant effects on individual health and, in this case, sleep habits.
The researchers added that their findings strongly suggest the need for programs and interventions to promote healthy sleep and sleep habits and that such programs should not be one-size-fits-all but rather should be targeted based on a variety of factors, including the risk of chronic conditions and socioeconomic vulnerability.
“Sleep is an everyday behavior,” Dr. Lee said. “Sleep is also modifiable. So, if we can improve sleep almost every day, what outcomes might we see after several months, or even several years? Better sleeping habits can make many significant differences, from improving social relationships and work performance to promoting long-term healthy behaviors and healthy aging.”
According to the CDC, these good habits can help improve sleep health:
Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, weekends included.
Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and at a cool, comfortable temperature.
Keep all electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones, out of your bedroom.
Skip large meals, caffeinated drinks, and alcohol before bed.
Fast-forward 50 years from wilted spinach salad’s debut to this version that offers all the benefits of olive oil in the dressing and the prep. Rather than bothering with croutons, try toasted slices of whole-grain bread for its hearty appeal.
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the salad:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
8 ounces baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium- or hard-boiled eggs (your preference) quartered
1 ounce hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
Optional: 2 slices whole grain bread, toasted and brushed with olive oil
Directions
Step 1
Make the vinaigrette: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, shallot, and thyme. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the red onions; sauté over medium heat until soft. Push them to the outside of the pan and add the mushrooms in one layer; cook until the edges have browned, then flip and brown on the other side. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl.
Step 3
Add the last tablespoon of olive oil to the hot pan along with the garlic and the spinach, adding the spinach by handfuls—as one batch starts to wilt, push it to the side and add another, stirring quickly. It should only take 2-3 minutes to do it all.
Step 4
Arrange the spinach in two large bowls and top with equal amounts of onions, mushrooms, eggs, and hazelnuts. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. If desired, add a slice of toast to one side of each bowl.
Horiatiki Salad Recipe and The MIND Diet for Brain Health: More Benefits of Olive Oil
I’m a huge fan of both Greek and Middle Eastern salads, the ingredients of which are not only delicious but also mainstays of the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet, a way of eating designed for brain health. It’s an offshoot of the super-healthy Mediterranean diet and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Why the distinction? Because the latest research on the MIND diet shows it can slow aging as well as reduce dementia risk. Add this to the list of the benefits of olive oil—it’s one of the super foods that MIND suggests including every day.
This classic Thai dish is a delicious one-pot meal that also happens to be gluten free. High-quality wild-caught frozen shrimp make a great option; let them defrost overnight in the fridge.
Ingredients
8 ounces cellophane (mung bean) noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pot
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
6 scallions, trimmed and sliced into small pieces
1/3 cup each finely chopped fresh cilantro and peanuts (optional)
Lime wedges
Directions
Step 1
Soak the noodles in a large bowl of fresh water at room temperature to soften, about 15 minutes.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, whisk together the soy and oyster sauces, sesame oil, and sugar. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the mix to another bowl along with the shrimp and black pepper; toss well.
Step 3
Add the broth to the bowl with the remaining soy sauce mixture.
Step 4
Once the noodles have softened, drain and use kitchen shears to cut the strands into thirds. Lightly brush a large Dutch oven with olive oil and heat it to medium-high heat. When hot, add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, ginger, garlic, and scallions and sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the noodles and then spread out in an even layer. Top with an even layer of shrimp, drizzling on any shrimp marinade from the bowl, then slowly add the broth mixture. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the shrimp and the noodles are cooked through. To serve, spoon equal amounts into deep bowls and top with cilantro and peanuts, if using, and a lime wedge.
Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe, Spotlight on Pecans, Chilling Cookie Dough, Rethinking (Dietary) Cheating and Avoiding Falls
Chocolate chip cookies are an American classic with hundreds of variations. My recipe adds healthy ingredients so you can feel good about indulging. Speaking of indulging, new research shows that occasional splurges don’t have to derail a smart eating plan. It turns out that your mindset matters more than the calories on your plate. Read the details below.
Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Pecans
A high-quality source of protein with few carbs and zero cholesterol, unroasted and unsalted pecans have the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark to show that they meet nutritional guidelines for heart health. Pecans are rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid and other B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, and one-and-a-half ounces of these sweet nuts deliver 15% of daily fiber needs. As part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, they may also reduce the risk of heart disease.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Chilling Cookie Dough
Many types of cookies require chilling for easier rolling and cutting, but there’s another key reason for this step: richer taste and texture. This happens as the structure of the flour and sugar change over time. If you’re in a rush, allow a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but for the tastiest results, 24 hours or more is better. In fact, cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for as long as 3 days before baking. If you’ll be storing the dough any longer than that, place it in the freezer.
For Your Best Health
Rethinking (Dietary) Cheating
For many people trying to lose weight, a “cheat meal” feels like a well-earned break from strict dieting—a chance to relax, enjoy something decadent, and return to routine refreshed. Eric Trexler, PhD, a fellow in the Health, Wellness, and Physical Education Department at Duke University, recently coauthored a study examining the surprisingly complicated world of cheat meals. The analysis looked at both psychological and physiological effects of loosening dietary rules and found that planned indulgences can help some people stay on track. But science also warns that unplanned or binge-like episodes may fuel guilt, shame, and unhealthy eating patterns.
“People really overestimate the physical impact of a cheat meal and dramatically underestimate the psychological impact,” said Dr. Trexler, who conducts evolutionary anthropology research and collaborates with global health researchers at the Duke University School of Medicine. Though his doctoral research explored dietary nitrate and blood flow, he’s also examined what he calls “nonlinear dieting strategies,” an approach that intentionally includes higher-calorie days or meals during weight loss. He detailed what people misunderstand most about these meals and how mindset matters more than the calories on a plate.
Dr. Trexler said that people tend to panic about how many pounds they’ll gain from a single cheat meal. The truth? Physically, one big dinner does almost nothing in the long term. Mentally, though, framing it as cheating can fuel guilt, shame, and the feeling that you’ve blown your diet, which can derail progress. When an indulgence is spontaneous or emotionally driven, the guilt that follows can easily snowball into overeating—turning a single cheat meal into a cheat weekend and then a cheat week. On the other hand, when a higher-calorie meal is intentional and fits within a larger eating plan, people tend to stay more motivated. Ideally, you enjoy the meal and then return to normal eating.
“A dietary strategy that has a lot of planned dietary deviations in place tells you, ‘You can do this,’” Dr. Trexler said. “You can implement these lifestyle changes. You don’t need to be perfect 100% of the time. You need to be good enough most of the time, and you are.”
According to Dr. Trexler, cheat meals aren’t inherently good or bad. The key is how intentional they are, how you think about them, and what happens afterward. Instead of “cheating,” a term that suggests a moral failure, he urges people to think about planned flexibility as part of a sustainable eating pattern—one that lets you enjoy your grandmother’s caramel cake “without worrying how many eggs or cups of sugar are in it,” he said. “Eating isn’t just about nutrition. Eating is a social and cultural event. At a certain point, implemented long enough, changes become the norm. You realize you can enjoy sitting down for dessert and having one piece of cake instead of two.”
Dr. Trexler warned of two red flags to look out for: turning one indulgence into a multiday binge and overcorrecting with extreme restriction or punishing exercise. Both patterns mirror the binge-restrict cycle common in disordered eating.
Fitness Flash
Avoiding Falls
A new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology found it’s not just that poor vision increases fall risk or that hazards increase fall risk—it’s the interaction between the two that really matters. Older adults with severe vision loss are three to four times more likely to fall when they live in homes with hazards such as missing grab bars, tripping risks like loose rugs and wires, or uneven floors.
“The home is not just a background; it’s a key shaper of fall risk,” said lead author Shu Xu, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. “Our study emphasizes the need to include the home environment as a key component of fall prevention, especially for older adults with vision loss. If we focus only on improving vision, we may overlook a group at very high risk: people who have both poor vision and hazards in their homes.”
The population-based cross-sectional study analyzed data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, which gathered nationally representative data on US Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older adults living at home.
Dr. Xu and colleagues documented that nearly half of older adults lacked grab bars in the bathroom. More than half of the sample lived with at least one hazard. Tripping hazards affected 9.5% of homes, broken flooring was present in 4.5% of them, and a total of roughly 7% of homes had two hazards.
“When an older adult with normal vision lives in a home with multiple hazards, fall risk is relatively low, but with high levels of vision impairment, fall risk increases threefold to fourfold,” Dr. Xu said. “Importantly, even among those with high levels of vision impairment, fall risk only increases significantly when home hazards are present.”
Incremental declines in vision directly raise fall risk for older adults with hazards in the home. Researchers measured specific visual functions and found that each one-line difference on the Snellen visual acuity chart—which tests how clearly a person can see by having them read letters of decreasing size from a set distance—was associated with a 31% increase in fall risk. Each one-line loss on the contrast sensitivity chart raised the risk by 14%.
These rising percentages suggest that poor vision may make it harder for older adults to detect and avoid existing dangers in their homes. The findings underscore that even small losses in vision may increase risk substantially when environmental hazards are present.
“Identifying and addressing home hazards is crucial,” said coauthor Joshua Ehrlich, MD, MPH, a professor of ophthalmology and a research associate professor at the Institute for Social Research. “Fall prevention should be framed as a partnership between health care and the physical home. In this case, vision care plus targeted home modifications.”
Falls are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Just one fall can be devastating for an older person. Here are some simple concrete actions to take for yourself or older loved ones:
Get regular eye exams and use the right glasses: Make sure prescriptions are up to date and use glasses as recommended.
Check the bathroom first: Add grab bars near the toilet and in the shower or tub; use nonslip mats in the shower or tub.
Clear walking paths: Remove or tape down loose rugs, move electrical cords out of walkways, and keep hallways and stairs free of clutter.
Fix damaged flooring: Repair torn carpet, broken tiles, or uneven floorboards that could catch a foot, cane, or walker.
Improve lighting: Use bright, even lighting, especially on stairs and in hallways; add night-lights near the bathroom and bedroom.
Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? This recipe transforms the classic formula by replacing half the butter with extra virgin olive oil and adding nutritious whole wheat flour and pecans, which lend a nutty crunch. For best results, bake only one sheet of cookies at a time. This recipe makes a large batch. If you only need a smaller one, put one dough log in the freezer for the future.
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup white or golden whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1-1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pound dark or bittersweet chocolate chunks
10 ounces pecan halves
Directions
Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and place next to your mixer or mixing bowl.
Step 2
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl and a hand mixer on medium speed, blend the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the olive oil and vanilla. On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture and beat until no traces of flour remain, about 20 seconds, then mix in the chocolate and pecans until evenly distributed, about another 20 seconds.
Step 3
Divide the dough between two long pieces of parchment paper and shape each into a thick log, about 3 inches in diameter. Roll up each log in its parchment and tuck under the ends. Wrap each log separately in foil, then refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
Step 4
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Slice one log into 10 disks and transfer to a rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment. Bake on a rack in the lower third of your oven until lightly brown, about 16 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Repeat with the second log. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before eating and let cool completely before storing in cookie tins.
Chicken Involtini Recipe, Spotlight on Chicken, A Better Approach to Losing Weight, and Why Workout Plans Go Awry
Want to elevate your next chicken dinner? Chicken involtini, or little bundles, is the delicious answer. Stuffed with spinach and cheese, it ticks all the boxes for flavor. This issue of the newsletter also serves up two studies—one on better ways to get help for losing weight and the other on how to rethink exercise for a better chance at sticking with a plan.
Chicken Involtini
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Chicken Breasts
Looking for a lean protein source? A 3-ounce serving of cooked skinless chicken breast delivers between 26 and 30 grams of protein for about 140 calories. You’ll also get B vitamins, particularly niacin and B6, and selenium, an essential trace mineral critical for supporting metabolism, among other functions.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Pounding Chicken
Pounded cutlets cook quickly and evenly because they have a uniform thickness. What’s more, pounding provides a bigger surface for stuffing which also makes rolling them up easier. It’s important to use a surface that can be easily and thoroughly cleaned, even though you’ll be pounding the chicken between sheets of parchment paper.
A meat mallet is a great tool; the flat side can be used on chicken and pork cutlets, and the side with the little spikes helps tenderize tougher cuts of beef. However, you can also make do with a heavy pan or even a rolling pin. Make sure to rotate the cutlet so you apply the force uniformly and not just to one or two spots. Start with moderate force and increase only if necessary to get an even thickness.
For Your Best Health
A Better Approach to Losing Weight
For a long time, endocrinologist Leigh Perreault, MD, felt uneasy about how weight management was handled in routine medical care. Too often, patients were sent home with vague advice to eat better and exercise more, even when that clearly was not enough.
“There was a moment I put my face in my hands and thought, ‘What am I doing?’ I would write a lot of prescriptions for patients’ diabetes, their blood pressure, their lipids, and all these other conditions,” said Dr. Perreault, a professor of endocrinology, metabolism, and diabetes at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine who practices in Westminster, Colorado, alongside primary care physicians. But she realized that many of those medications addressed symptoms rather than the root problem. “None of these people want to be on these medications, and I thought if I could just help them with their weight, many of these health concerns would probably go away,” she said. That realization set the stage for a new approach that could soon reshape how weight care would be addressed in primary care.
Dr.Perreault and her colleagues created PATHWEIGH, a structured process that helps people and their primary care teams focus directly on weight management. The program introduces dedicated clinic visits where providers can concentrate specifically on weight-related care instead of squeezing it into a standard appointment.
With funding from the National Institutes of Health, PATHWEIGH was rolled out across UCHealth’s 56 primary care clinics throughout Colorado to evaluate its impact. The pilot included 274,182 patients, making it one of the largest randomized trials ever conducted in this area. Results published in Nature Medicine showed that the program reduced population weight gain by 0.58 kg (about one and a quarter pounds) over 18 months and shifted the overall trend from steady gain to weight loss. Experts estimate that rising obesity rates are driven by an average population weight gain of about 0.50 kg or roughly a half pound every year. Stopping that increase and turning it into even modest weight loss could make a meaningful difference in slowing the obesity epidemic. “While it’s not a significant difference on an individual patient level, it’s a huge deal on a population and public health level,” Dr. Perreault said.
The program also made patients more likely to get help for weight issues. Participation increased the chances of receiving weight-related care by 23%. Most of that care involved lifestyle counseling, but prescriptions for anti-obesity medications doubled during the intervention. Unlike many one-size-fits-all weight-loss programs, PATHWEIGH allows treatment to be customized to each patient. It also reduces the discomfort that often surrounds conversations about weight in medical settings.
“With PATHWEIGH, we showed that we absolutely eliminated population weight gain across all of our primary care, which had never been done previously,” Dr. Perreault said. “If you think about weight loss medicine or surgery or a weight loss program, those are all vehicles to weight loss. We built a highway that we could put all the vehicles on, so there’s actually a process for people to receive weight-related care if they want it.
Dr. Perreault said the program’s success has opened the door to wider adoption. Plans are underway to expand PATHWEIGH beyond Colorado. The Obesity Association, which is developing its first standards of care for obesity, is highlighting the program as a recommended care process. Five health systems across seven states are also considering PATHWEIGH as its creators work toward licensing the model.
Fitness Flash
Why Workout Plans Go Awry
You know you should exercise, so you make a solid plan to do it, but then, in the decisive moment, you opt out. And then you choose to forgo your planned daily exercise again and again. Why? It could be related to what scientists call all-or-nothing thinking.
“Most people are tired and overwhelmed, so in the moment of decision, the immediate costs of exercising feel much bigger than the benefits, making it a low-value choice,” said University of Michigan behavioral scientist Michelle Segar, PhD. “This makes doing ‘nothing’ a prudent choice and desirable exit strategy. Decisions to not exercise are often made outside of awareness—so people are likely unaware that choosing to forgo their exercise plans could be related to having an all-or-nothing mindset.”
She suggests that all-or-nothing thinking is caused by a deeply embedded mindset that leads many people to abandon their exercise plans. “Exercise-related all-or-nothing thinking occurs when a specific exercise plan becomes unworkable,” Dr. Segar explained. “At this moment, when people cannot perfectly adhere to their plan—the ‘all’—they choose not to exercise at all rather than modify the plan.”
While all-or-nothing thinking has been studied in relation to eating and weight, this is the first in-depth research to investigate this phenomenon with exercise, Dr. Segar said. She and her colleagues Jen Taber, John Updegraff, and Alexis McGhee-Dinvaut, all of Kent State University, conducted four focus groups among 27 adults—ages 19 to 79—who tried to exercise but couldn’t stick with it. The study, published in BMC Public Health, uncovered four components that collectively make up an all-or-nothing mindset:
Having rigid, idealized criteria for exercising. For most participants, their “all” constituted rigid standards that had to be met to exercise “right.” They typically say to themselves, “If I do something for under 15 minutes, I feel like I didn’t even exercise. Even if it were dead-out sprints, it just doesn’t factor into my head like I did anything.”
Seeking excuses for not exercising. This component reflects participants actively trying to avoid their intended exercise. They said that exercising the right way took a lot of effort, saying, “It’s hard,” “It hurts,” and “It doesn’t feel good to do.”
Believing exercise was expendable compared to their daily priorities. Participants said things like “When your routine ends up getting crowded with the things that have to be done or should be done, [exercising] is an easy thing to push to the side.”
Being baffled about why they could not stick with exercise. Participants were unable to reconcile their current inactivity even though they could recall having had previous positive experiences exercising, saying things such as “I don’t understand why I don’t exercise. … I’m an educated woman… why can’t I even make a dent in it?”
“The all-or-nothing mindset creates high costs for exercising,” said Dr. Segar. Here’s her advice to overcome it:
Don’t be a prisoner to your exercise past. Know that negative exercise experiences in your past can demotivate you now. Acknowledge that fact and then move forward in more positive and realistic ways.
Don’t blame yourself for not sticking with exercise. Our culture has taught us an exercise formula that sets up most people to fail.
Choose “good enough” over “perfect.” Nothing has to be perfect, including exercise.
These stuffed boneless chicken breasts are browned on the stovetop and then baked in the oven in an olive oil, lemon, and butter sauce. Enjoy on its own or over pasta.
Ingredients
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
12 ounces fresh baby spinach
1 teaspoon salt, divided use
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided use
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, about 2 pounds in total
8-ounce block Emmenthaler or provolone cheese, sliced into 8 sticks
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Directions
Step 1
Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and the garlic. Cook the garlic until it becomes translucent, then add the spinach in bunches. As each bunch wilts, add the next. When completely wilted and tender, transfer to a colander and set the skillet aside. Let the spinach cool for 5 minutes, then squeeze with your hands to remove any excess liquid. Transfer to a large glass bowl and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and the red pepper flakes.
Step 2
Slice each breast horizontally to make eight cutlets. One at a time, place each cutlet between two sheets of parchment paper set on a cutting board, and use a kitchen mallet to pound it to about 1/4” thickness. Season each cutlet with the remaining salt and pepper.
Step 3
Top each cutlet with a layer of spinach, then place a stick of cheese in the center. Starting at the narrow end, roll up each cutlet and secure with a wooden skewer or toothpicks to keep the roll closed.
Step 4
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Put the flour in a pie plate and place it next to your stovetop. Wipe out the skillet and reheat it. When hot, add 4 tablespoons olive oil. Roll each bundle in the flour, shake off any excess, and add to the pan, seam side down. Brown on all sides, turning with heat-safe tongs. Deglaze the skillet with the stock, then add the lemon juice and butter. Place the skillet in the oven for 20 minutes or until an instant read thermometer placed in the chicken shows 160°F.
Step 5
Very carefully take the pan out of the oven. If you’d like a thicker sauce, plate the chicken and return the skillet to the stovetop. Bring to a boil and cook down for about 5 minutes. To serve, remove the skewers or toothpicks, drizzle on some sauce, and sprinkle on the parsley.
Baked Ziti Recipe, Spotlight on Whole Wheat Pasta, Understanding al Dente, How the Nose Fends Off Colds and Fighting Age-Related Muscle Loss
When it comes to comfort food, few dishes can top baked ziti, with its luscious sauce and melted cheeses. And it doesn’t take much effort for all that reward! I’m sharing interesting research that may explain why some people are more prone to colds than others as well as a reminder about maintaining muscle as we age.
Baked Ziti
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Whole Wheat Pasta
To add more nutrients and fiber to your ziti, opt for whole wheat pasta. It’s made from the entire wheat kernel—bran, germ, and endosperm—and retains its vitamins and minerals. While it takes a bit longer to cook, follow package directions to be sure it’s al dente.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Understanding al Dente
Al dente literally means to the tooth—firm when bitten yet not hard or raw tasting. Most Italian cooks boil pasta to this stage regardless of the recipe. Americans tend to like their pasta more tender. But when it will be twice cooked, as with ziti, lasagna, and stuffed shells, it needs to be al dente before it goes into the oven or else it will be too soft.
If your pasta box doesn’t list al dente cooking time, test a piece about 2 minutes sooner than the general directions and see whether it has a bit of bite. If it’s too firm, check it again in a minute.
For Your Best Health
How the Nose Fends Off Colds
When rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold, enters the nasal passages, the cells lining the nose immediately begin working together to fight the infection. These cells activate a wide range of antiviral defenses designed to limit the virus and stop it from spreading. In a study published in the journal Cell Press Blue, researchers show that this early response plays a key role in whether a person becomes sick and how severe their symptoms become. The findings suggest that the body’s reaction to rhinovirus often matters more than the virus itself.
“As the number one cause of common colds and a major cause of breathing problems in people with asthma and other chronic lung conditions, rhinoviruses are very important in human health,” said senior author Ellen Foxman, MD, PhD, of the Yale School of Medicine. “This research allowed us to peer into the human nasal lining and see what is happening during rhinovirus infections at both the cellular and molecular levels.”
To closely observe how nasal cells respond to infection, the research team built a lab-grown model of human nasal tissue with multiple cell types found in the human airway, including mucus-producing cells and cells with cilia, the tiny hairlike structures that help move mucus and trapped particles out of the lungs. “This model reflects the responses of the human body much more accurately than the conventional cell lines used for virology research,” Dr. Foxman said.
Using this model, the researchers were able to monitor how thousands of individual cells respond together during infection. They also examined what happened when the cellular sensors responsible for detecting rhinovirus were blocked. These experiments revealed a powerful defense system coordinated by interferons, which are proteins that interfere with viral entry and replication.
When nasal cells detect rhinovirus, they release interferons that activate antiviral defenses not only in infected cells but also in nearby healthy cells. This coordinated response makes it difficult for the virus to reproduce and spread. If interferon activity begins quickly, the infection can be contained early. When the researchers blocked this response, the virus spread rapidly, infecting many more cells and causing significant damage. In some cases, the infected organoids did not survive.
“Our experiments show how critical and effective a rapid interferon response is in controlling rhinovirus infection, even without any cells of the immune system present,” said first author Bao Wang, PhD, of the Yale School of Medicine.
The study also uncovered additional responses that occur when viral replication increases. Under these conditions, rhinovirus can activate a separate sensing system that leads both infected and uninfected cells to produce large amounts of mucus and inflammatory signals. This reaction can contribute to airway inflammation and breathing difficulties in the lungs. According to the researchers, these pathways may offer useful targets for treatments aimed at reducing harmful symptoms while supporting effective antiviral defenses.
“Our study advances the paradigm that the body’s responses to a virus, rather than the properties inherent to the virus itself, are hugely important in determining whether or not a virus will cause illness and how severe the illness will be,” Dr. Foxman said. “Targeting defense mechanisms is an exciting avenue for novel therapeutics.”
Fitness Flash
Fighting Age-Related Muscle Loss
A new study in mice is giving scientists fresh clues about why our muscles lose strength as we get older and why exercise remains one of the most reliable ways to fight it.Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School found that a gene regulator called DEAF1 seems to push a key muscle-maintenance system into overdrive as we age. When we’re young, the system known as mTORC1 helps build and repair muscle. But later in life, it can get stuck in high gear and begin to damage muscle cells instead.
“The mTORC1 pathway is essential for muscle growth yet becomes chronically overactive in aging—a paradox that has made it challenging to pinpoint what drives this dysregulation,” said the study’s senior author Hong-Wen Tang, PhD, an assistant professor in the Cancer and Stem Cell Program at Duke-NUS and Singapore General Hospital.
Until now, scientists didn’t know what caused this shift. “Identifying DEAF1 fills an important gap in understanding how age-related stress signals become hardwired into a persistent anabolic state that ultimately harms muscle cells,” Dr. Tang said.
The study suggests DEAF1 essentially hits the gas on a system already running too fast. By pushing mTORC1 into overdrive, DEAF1 causes muscles to make too many proteins, fail to clear damaged ones, and gradually weaken.
One of the most surprising findings: Exercise reverses this process by lowering DEAF1 levels. That means in addition to building muscle, physical activity helps reset the core cellular pathways that keep muscles healthy. “It was a striking discovery,” said Dr. Tang. “It shows that exercise doesn’t just fix damage; it targets the switch that causes muscle aging in the first place.”
Scientists didn’t just look at whether exercise keeps muscles strong—they wanted to know how it does it. They put aging mice through endurance workouts, including an exhausting treadmill run. For comparison, another group of older mice stayed sedentary. After the workouts, the exercising mice showed big drops in mTORC1, the overactive pathway linked to muscle loss and function known as sarcopenia.
Researchers found that exercise lowers DEAF1 through a well-known set of longevity genes called FOXO. When activated during exercise, FOXO suppresses DEAF1—lifting the foot off the gas pedal—and helps mTORC1 return to normal. Their work highlights a new biological pathway—the FOXO-DEAF1-mTORC1 axis—that helps explain why muscles weaken with age and why exercise remains such a powerful antidote to age-related decline.
This delectable dish starts with a rich yet quick tomato sauce. You can substitute a 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes with their juice for the fresh tomatoes but add it after the tomato paste.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish and drizzling
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound tomatoes, any type, coarsely chopped
One 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ziti
16 ounces ricotta cheese
12 ounces mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions
Step 1
Brush a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish with olive oil; set aside.
Step 2
Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the 3 tablespoons olive oil and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes. Cook, stirring constantly, until the tomatoes become soft, then push them to the outsides of the pan. Add the tomato paste and cook it until it becomes fragrant and darkens in color, about 5 minutes. Mix the paste with the tomatoes and garlic, then press with a masher to release all of the tomatoes’ juices. Stir in the sugar, salt, and both peppers and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F. Cook the ziti according to the package directions until al dente, then drain.
Step 4
Off the heat, stir the ricotta into the sauce, then fold in the pasta. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Top with overlapping slices of mozzarella, then sprinkle on the grated cheese.
Step 5
Bake for 25 minutes, until the cheeses are bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Tricolore Soup Recipe, Spotlight on Kidney Beans, Colanders and Strainers, Benefits of Monk Fruit, and Workouts Burn More Calories than Previously Thought
I love a hearty soup that delivers nourishing warmth with great taste. My combination of beans, barley, and broccoli is a flavorful hit! If you’re a fan of monk fruit as a sweetener, you’ll be wowed by the nutritional bounty of this gourd. I’m also sharing the latest research on calories burned during exercise—motivation to get moving.
Tricolore Soup
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Red Kidney Beans
Named for their red color and their shape, kidney beans are a type of legume that come in light- and dark-red shades. Because they’re very firm, they retain their texture well in recipes. Kidney beans are a great source of fiber and protein, delivering 7 grams of each in a half-cup. You’ll also get folate and vitamin B1 along with minerals including iron, manganese, and phosphorus. What’s more, eating beans helps control cholesterol and blood sugar and may boost heart and colon health.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Colanders and Strainers
Though many recipes call for straining or draining foods, they rarely specify what tool to use. Depending on the specific task at hand, you’ll need either a colander or a strainer. What’s the difference? The overall size and the size of the openings. Simply put, a colander is a footed bowl with two handles and large holes for draining foods like just-boiled potatoes and pasta and rinsing raw fruits, vegetables, and even canned beans. A strainer is a handheld gadget with a scoop-like surface made of mesh for jobs like straining cocoa to remove lumps or sifting confectioners’ sugar over baked goods. It’s also handy when you want to strain out very small ingredients, like seeds. Some strainers have a finer mesh than others. In general, it’s very helpful to have at least two sizes of each tool, typically made from stainless steel for durability.
For Your Best Health
Benefits of Monk Fruit
Scientists are taking a closer look at monk fruit and discovering it’s more than just a zero-calorie natural sweetener. Luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenorii), more commonly known as monk fruit, is a long-living vine that belongs to the gourd family, the same plant group as cucumbers and squash. It’s native to southern China, where it has been used for centuries in traditional foods and remedies. In recent years, monk fruit has drawn scientific attention because it contains high levels of antioxidants, which help protect cells from damage caused by unstable molecules—free radicals which have been linked to aging and many chronic diseases. New findings published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture looked at the specific chemical compounds of monk fruit and how they may support health.
One of the most important features of monk fruit is its abundance of what’s called secondary metabolites. These are natural plant chemicals that are not required for basic human growth but often play a role in health. In this case, researchers concentrated on three major groups: terpenoids, flavonoids, and amino acids. They examined both the peel and the pulp of four different monk fruit varieties and were able to identify where these compounds are concentrated and how they behave biologically. The study further explored how they interact with antioxidant receptors and other biological targets. (Receptors are structures in cells that receive chemical signals and trigger responses in the body.) These interactions influence various biological pathways, which are step-by-step processes that help regulate functions such as inflammation, metabolism, and cellular protection. Understanding these pathways helps explain why monk fruit may have health promoting properties beyond its use as a natural sweetener.
The researchers emphasized that not all monk fruit is chemically identical. Different varieties can contain different levels and combinations of active compounds. As the authors explained, “[I]t is crucial to conduct an in-depth investigation on the high-resolution metabolic profiles of different luo han guo varieties, providing valuable insights into the nutritional and health characteristics as well as the manufacturing suitability of the various resources available from this plant.” This type of detailed chemical mapping helps scientists determine which varieties may be best suited for food products, supplements, or other uses.
Fitness Flash
Workouts Burn More Calories than Previously Thought
For years, researchers have debated whether the body treats energy like a fixed paycheck or a flexible bonus system. One idea suggests that when people move more, the body shifts energy away from other tasks to pay for that activity. The other model proposes that energy use can expand, allowing total daily expenditure to rise as activity increases. Researchers, led by scientists at Virginia Tech working with colleagues from the University of Aberdeen and Shenzhen University, set out to learn which of these ideas best reflect what actually happens across different activity levels.
To do so, the team measured total energy expenditure, meaning the total number of calories burned in a day, among 75 participants between the ages of 19 and 63, with widely varying activity levels that ranged from largely inactive to ultra-endurance running. “Our study found that more physical activity is associated with higher calorie burn, regardless of body composition, and that this increase is not balanced out by the body reducing energy spent elsewhere,” said Kevin Davy, PhD, a professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech and the principal investigator of the study. Physical activity continues to affect the body even after the movement itself has ended. More movement leads to more calories burned.
To measure calories burned, the researchers had the participants drink special forms of oxygen and hydrogen and provide urine samples over a two-week period. Oxygen leaves the body as both water and carbon dioxide, while hydrogen exits only as water. By comparing how much of each isotope was lost, researchers could estimate how much carbon dioxide participants produced and, in turn, how much energy they used. Physical activity was tracked using a small waist-worn sensor that recorded movement in multiple directions.
The results showed that as people moved more, their total energy use increased accordingly. The body did not appear to compensate by dialing down energy use elsewhere. Essential functions such as breathing, blood circulation, and temperature regulation continued to require the same amount of energy, even as physical activity rose. This means the body does not clearly offset or cancel out the extra calories burned through movement.
The researchers also observed a strong connection between higher activity levels and reduced time spent sitting. Simply put, people who move more tend to spend less time being inactive overall.
“Tricolore” refers to the three colors of the Italian flag, but this recipe has surprising choices for the red, white, and green—kidney beans, barley, and broccoli! Notes: Choose hull-less rather than pearl barley for better taste and more fiber. Always save and freeze Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds as they add great flavor to soups and stews.
Ingredients
1 cup hull-less barley, uncooked
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
6 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
Optional: rind from a block of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
One 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Fine sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions
Step 1
In a medium saucepan, bring the barley and 4 cups of water to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until tender, an hour or more. When the barley is done, all the water should have evaporated. Check it regularly in case the water evaporates before the barley is cooked through.
Step 2
Heat a stockpot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the 3 tablespoons olive oil and the garlic. Sauté until the garlic softens. Add the broccoli, broth, and, if using, the cheese rind. Bring to a simmer and cook until the broccoli is tender, about 12 minutes. Add in the cooked barley and beans and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Serve with large shavings of cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.
Pistachio Layer Cake Recipe, Spotlight on Buttermilk, How to Sift Dry Ingredients, Volunteering to Keep your Brain Younger, plus Tea, Coffee, and Women’s Bone Health
This romantic pistachio and white chocolate layer cake is delicious any time of the year, but it’s especially fitting for Valentine’s Day. This is also an excellent time to think about helping others, and a new study of volunteering made a link between selfless acts of service and helping brain health. I’m also sharing research on the effects of tea and coffee on women’s bone health—the results will surprise you.
Pistachio Layer Cake
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Buttermilk
True buttermilk is the fermented liquid that separates from the fat mass when churning butter. The buttermilk sold in supermarkets is milk that has fermented thanks to the addition of live cultures. Though rich and creamy, buttermilk is low in fat with a high acidity level. It makes baked goods very fluffy—that’s why buttermilk biscuits and buttermilk pancakes are so popular. In a pinch, you can create a cup of buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or distilled vinegar to 1 cup of milk and letting it sit for a few minutes until it curdles.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Sifting Dry Ingredients
Whether with a dedicated sifter or a fine mesh strainer with a spoon acting as a pusher, sifting dry ingredients is a great way to better mix them as well as get rid of any possible lumps, especially with cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar. Some pre-ground nut flours, like almond meal, can also develop clumps, but you may need a tool with a wider mesh to sift them. Keep in mind that when sifting numerous ingredients together, you’ll still need to whisk them to fully distribute them.
For Your Best Health
Volunteering to Keep your Brain Younger
Strong social ties are often linked to better health, and new research adds a brain benefit to that list. Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Massachusetts Boston report that regularly helping people outside your household can noticeably slow cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults, even if it’s just a few hours a week.
The researchers followed more than 30,000 adults in the US for two decades and found the decline was reduced by about 15% to 20% among those who either volunteered formally or helped in informal ways, such as supporting neighbors, family, or friends. Both formal volunteering and informal acts were linked to noticeably slower cognitive decline over time. The benefits added up year after year and didn’t require a huge time commitment. Even modest everyday helping packed a powerful mental payoff.
“Everyday acts of support—whether organized or personal—can have lasting cognitive impact,” said Sae Hwang Han, PhD, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT who led the study. “What stood out to me was that the cognitive benefits of helping others weren’t just short-term boosts but cumulative over time with sustained engagement, and these benefits were evident for both formal volunteering and informal helping. And in addition to that, moderate engagement of just two to four hours was consistently linked to robust benefits.”
These results strengthen the case for thinking about volunteering, helping, and neighborhood connection as public health issues. This may be especially important later in life, when conditions tied to cognitive decline and impairment, including Alzheimer’s, are more likely to develop.
Related work led by Dr. Han found that volunteering helped counter the harmful effects of chronic stress on systemic inflammation, a known biological pathway linked to cognitive decline and dementia. The benefit was strongest among people with higher levels of inflammation. Taken together, these findings suggest helping others may support brain health in more than one way. It may reduce the physical strain linked to stress, and it may strengthen social bonds that provide psychological, emotional, and cognitive support. As societies age and concerns about loneliness and isolation grow, the results also support continued efforts to keep people involved in ways that let them contribute, even after cognitive decline has begun.
“Many older adults in suboptimal health often continue to make valuable contributions to those around them,” Dr. Han said, “and they also may be the ones to especially benefit from being provided with opportunities to help.”
Fitness Flash
Tea, Coffee, and Women’s Bone Health
An investigation from Flinders University in South Australia sheds new light on how two widely consumed drinks, coffee and tea, could play a role in bone health for women later in life. The study, published in the journal Nutrients, monitored nearly 10,000 women aged 65 and older for 10 years to examine whether regularly drinking coffee or tea was connected to changes in bone mineral density (BMD).
BMD is a central marker used to assess osteoporosis risk. Osteoporosis affects one in three women over 50 and leads to millions of fractures every year, making bone health an important global issue. Because coffee and tea are part of daily routines for billions of people, researchers noted that understanding their long-term effects on bones is essential. Previous findings have often been inconsistent, and few studies have followed such a large group across an entire decade.
The researchers used information from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, drawing on repeated measures of beverage intake and BMD at the hip and femoral neck. These areas are closely tied to fracture risk. Throughout the 10-year period, participants regularly reported how much coffee and tea they consumed. At the same time, bone density was assessed using advanced imaging tools.
Results showed that women who drank tea had slightly higher total hip BMD than those who did not. Although the improvement was small, it was statistically significant and may matter when considering the health of a large population.
“Even small improvements in bone density can translate into fewer fractures across large groups,” said Adjunct Associate Professor Enwu Liu, PhD, from the College of Medicine and Public Health.
Findings for coffee were more varied. Moderate intake, roughly two to three cups a day, was not associated with harm. However, consuming more than five cups per day was linked to lower BMD, indicating that very high levels of coffee could negatively affect bone strength. Women with higher lifetime alcohol intake appeared particularly vulnerable to coffee’s negative effects, whereas tea showed stronger benefits in women with obesity.
Ryan Liu, co-author of the study, explains that tea is rich in catechins, compounds that may encourage bone formation and help slow bone loss. “Coffee’s caffeine content, by contrast, has been shown in laboratory studies to interfere with calcium absorption and bone metabolism, though these effects are small and can be offset by adding milk,” he said.
Dr. Enwu Liu noted that the research suggests drinking tea daily may be an easy way to support bone health as people grow older. “While moderate coffee drinking appears safe, very high consumption may not be ideal, especially for women who drink alcohol,” he said.
The researchers emphasized that while the results are statistically meaningful, the differences are not dramatic enough to require sweeping lifestyle changes. “Our results don’t mean you need to give up coffee or start drinking tea by the gallon,” said Dr. Liu. “But they do suggest that moderate tea consumption could be one simple way to support bone health and that very high coffee intake might not be ideal, especially for women who drink alcohol. While calcium and vitamin D remain cornerstones of bone health, what’s in your cup could play a role too. For older women, enjoying a daily cup of tea may be more than a comforting ritual; it could be a small step toward stronger bones.”
The MIND Diet for Brain Health: More Benefits of Olive Oil
According to a new study from researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The Robert Butler Columbia Aging Center, a very specific brain-boosting diet has been linked to reduced dementia risk and a slower pace of aging. The study, “Diet, Pace of Biological Aging, and Risk of Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study,” published in the Annals of Neurology, also explains how the diet helps slow down the processes of biological aging.
“Much attention to nutrition in dementia research focuses on the way specific nutrients affect the brain,” said Daniel Belsky, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and a senior author of the study. “We tested the hypothesis that healthy diet protects against dementia by slowing down the body’s overall pace of biological aging.”
The researchers used data from the second generation of the Framingham Heart Study, the Offspring Cohort. Participants were 60 years of age or older and free of dementia and had available dietary, epigenetic, and follow-up data. Follow-up was done at nine examinations, approximately every 4 to 7 years, which included a physical exam, lifestyle-related questionnaires, blood sampling, and, starting in 1991, neurocognitive testing. Of 1,644 participants included in the analyses, 140 developed dementia.
To measure the pace of aging, the researchers used an epigenetic clock called DunedinPACE developed by Dr. Belsky and colleagues at Duke University and the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The clock measures how fast a person’s body is deteriorating as they grow older, “like a speedometer for the biological processes of aging,” explained Dr. Belsky.
“We have some strong evidence that a healthy diet can protect against dementia,” said Yian Gu, PhD, associate professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the other senior author of the study, “but the mechanism of this protection is not well understood.” Past research linked both diet and dementia risk to an accelerated pace of biological aging. “Testing the hypothesis that multi-system biological aging is a mechanism of underlying diet-dementia associations was the logical next step,” explained Dr. Belsky.
The research determined that higher adherence to the MIND diet slowed the pace of aging as measured by DunedinPACE and reduced risks for dementia and mortality. Furthermore, slower DunedinPACE accounted for 27% of the diet-dementia association and 57% of the diet-mortality association.
“Our findings suggest that slower pace of aging mediates part of the relationship of healthy diet with reduced dementia risk, and therefore, monitoring pace of aging may inform dementia prevention,” said first author Aline Thomas, PhD, of the Columbia Department of Neurology and Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain. “However, a portion of the diet-dementia association remains unexplained, therefore we believe that continued investigation of brain-specific mechanisms in well-designed mediation studies is warranted.”
“We suggest that additional observational studies be conducted to investigate direct associations of nutrients with brain aging, and if our observations are also confirmed in more diverse populations, monitoring biological aging may indeed inform dementia prevention,” noted Dr. Belsky.
Exactly What Is the MIND Diet?
MIND is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, tailored to reflect key findings from nutrition and dementia research. It details serving sizes of specific foods to focus on and which to limit, primarily those high in saturated fat, which is known to negatively affect brain health.
Foods and portions to eat every day: 1/2 to 1 cup green leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup other vegetables, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and three 1-ounce servings of whole grains.
Foods and portions to eat over the course of each week: 5 ounces nuts, 2-1/2 cups berries, 1-1/2 cups legumes, two 3-to-5-ounce servings of skinless poultry, and 3-to-5 ounces fish.
Foods to limit to these weekly totals: three or fewer 3-to-5-ounce servings of red and processed meats, 1 ounce whole-fat cheese, 1 fried or fast food, and 4 sweet servings. If desired, no more than 1 teaspoon of butter or stick of margarine a day.
