Olive Oil Hunter News #281

Beef Bourguignon Recipe, Spotlight on Condimento Bianco Timo, Sugar Substitute Concerns, and How Culture May Counter Aging

There’s nothing quite as comforting on cool nights as a delicious stew, and beef bourguignon is one of the most flavorful. It’s also a dish that gets better with time…and with thyme-enhanced vinegar. The research studies I’m sharing are great food for thought: a new potential peril of certain sugar substitutes and how cultural activities may keep your body young.

Beef Bourguignon

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Condimento Bianco Timo

This year, to create a unique taste sensation, I had the idea to infuse a rich vinegar with thyme. The result is my exclusive Condimento Bianco Timo (White Condiment with Thyme). Gorgeous thyme sprigs with an intoxicating herbal scent were added right at the time of bottling in a special controlled zone of the acetaia, the name of the complex where vinegar is made. The fresh herb, handpicked in Campagna in Italy, offers a delicious counterpoint to the sweetness of the Condimento Bianco, which is made of the grape must (the result of cooking down all parts of the grapes) from famed Trebbiano grapes and wine vinegar. Thyme imparts earthy, woodsy notes as well as hints of floral and citrus. Use this vinegar whenever you want to add bright herbal flavor along with a light sweetness.

For Your Best Health

Sugar Substitute Concerns

Several widely used sugar substitutes may be associated with faster declines in memory and thinking skills over time, according to research published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study followed nearly 13,000 adults for approximately eight years and examined seven sweeteners that contain few or no calories—aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, and tagatose. These ingredients are frequently added to ultra-processed products, including flavored waters, soft drinks, energy drinks, yogurts, and desserts, or sold separately for use in coffee, tea, cooking, or baking.

People who consumed the greatest amounts of these sweeteners experienced a 62% faster decline in overall thinking and memory abilities than those who consumed the least. The researchers estimated that this difference was comparable to about 1.6 additional years of aging. The connection was stronger among people with diabetes, possibly because they use sugar substitutes more frequently. Age appeared to influence the results. Among participants under 60, those who consumed the most sweeteners experienced faster declines in verbal fluency and overall cognitive performance than those who consumed the least. Researchers did not find the same association among participants over 60. When the researchers examined the sweeteners separately, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K, erythritol, sorbitol, and xylitol were associated with faster declines in overall cognition, particularly memory. Tagatose was the only sweetener in the study that was not linked to cognitive decline.

“Low- and no-calorie sweeteners are often seen as a healthy alternative to sugar; however, our findings suggest certain sweeteners may have negative effects on brain health over time,” said study author Claudia Kimie Suemoto, MD, PhD, of the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

Important: The results show an association, not that sweeteners directly cause cognitive decline, meaning other factors could help explain the pattern. “More research is needed to confirm our findings and to investigate if other refined sugar alternatives, such as applesauce, honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar, may be effective alternatives,” Dr. Suemoto added.

Fitness Flash

How Culture May Counter Aging

Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo in Japan found that older adults who regularly participated in cultural activities tended to have bodies that functioned like those of people about three years younger. The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, add to growing evidence that staying socially and culturally active could play an important role in healthy aging.

The team analyzed data from 1,899 adults participating in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, an ongoing population-based study of a nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 and older living in England. Ten indicators of physical health, including pulse pressure, diastolic blood pressure, forced expiratory volume, hemoglobin concentration, fibrinogen, glycated hemoglobin, LDL cholesterol, BMI, grip strength, and walking speed, were measured and combined into a single physiological age score.

Participants reported how often they attended the cinema, a museum or art gallery, and the theater, a concert, or the opera. Each activity was scored on a scale from 0 (never) to 5 (twice a month or more), producing a total cultural engagement score ranging from 0 to 15.

People with higher levels of cultural engagement, defined as taking part in cultural activities at least every few months, had an average physiological age of 66.9 years. In comparison, those with lower levels of participation had an average physiological age of 69.9 years.

The researchers believe stronger social ties, better mental health, and healthier habits could help explain the link, but because the study was observational, it can’t determine whether cultural activities directly slow aging. Still, they argue that because cultural engagement is a modifiable behavior, encouraging it could become an effective public health strategy.

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Beef Bourguignon

For a soul-satisfying dish, this stew can’t be beat. It requires a slow simmer but is great as a do-ahead meal that tastes even better the next day. Make it over a weekend and savor it midweek when you’re too tired to cook.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more as needed
2 thick slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
12 pearl onions, peeled
6 shallots, peeled and halved
1 pound cremini (“baby bella”) mushrooms, rinsed, trimmed as needed, and halved
2 to 3 tablespoons white whole-wheat flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds “petit beef filet” or beef shoulder steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup cognac or brandy
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup Condimento Bianco Timo
3 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought beef stock
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons grainy mustard
6 large carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 3-inch pieces

Directions

Step 1

Heat a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the bacon; cook until the bacon is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a small bowl. Sauté the onions and shallots in the fat until tender, about 15 minutes. Use the slotted spoon to transfer them to a large bowl. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot and sauté the mushrooms just until they soften, then transfer them to the bowl with the bacon. Leave the pot on the stove.

Step 2

In a clean bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of the flour, salt, and pepper. Pat the beef cubes dry with paper towels and add them to the flour bowl, coating them well (use the third tablespoon if needed). Reheat the pot if necessary, then add 2 more tablespoons olive oil and the beef; cook in two to three batches, as needed, to avoid crowding. (Add 1 to 2 more tablespoons oil with each batch as needed.) Brown the beef cubes on all sides, using tongs to turn them, then transfer them to the bowl with the onions and shallots.

Step 3

Pour the cognac or brandy, wine, and vinegar into the pot to deglaze it, using a silicone spatula to get up all the bits of fond from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the beef stock and both mustards. Add back the onions, shallots, and beef and reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the carrots and cook, partially covered, for about 2 hours. To finish, add back the mushrooms and the bacon bits and heat through.

Yields 8 servings