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The Olive Oil Hunter News #108

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Roasted Butternut Bisque Recipe and the Connection Between the Vibrant Taste of Virgin Olive Oil and Its Higher Health Benefits

All olive oil is not created equal. If you’re a long-standing Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club member, you know that I’m preaching to the choir, as the saying goes. As your Olive Oil Hunter, I not only search for the best of the best olive oils for you, but I also share the latest research on EVOO. Thanks to ongoing studies, we know that there are differences between run-of-the-mill olive oil and fresh-from-the-mill extra virgin olive oil. The latest findings come from a decade-long Spanish study, and it connects the dots between the vibrant taste of virgin olive oil and its higher health benefits. For a delicious way to get these benefits, here’s the perfect dish for cold winter days—a silky butternut squash soup.

Roasted Butternut Bisque

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #108 Roasted Butternut Bisque

    This soup is hearty enough for a meal—just add salad and crusty bread. It’s equally delicious made with Hubbard squash when you can find it! You can also get creative with toppings—a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of pomegranate arils, and perhaps roasted and chopped nuts.

    Ingredients

    • One 2-pound butternut squash
    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
    • 1 large onion, diced
    • 2 large carrots, trimmed and sliced
    • 1 apple, such as Macoun or Gala, cut into chunks
    • 3 scallions, trimmed and sliced
    • 2 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium, more as needed
    • 2 tablespoons sherry
    • 1 cup milk
    • ½ teaspoon curry powder (optional)
    • Freshly ground white pepper

    Yields 4 servings

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 400°F. Slice the squash lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds (you may roast them separately for a crunchy snack). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle it with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Place the squash halves, cut side down, on the parchment and roast for one hour or until a knife tip easily pierces the flesh. Let the squash cool while you continue with the recipe.

    Step 2

    Heat a large skillet until hot—a few drops of water sprinkled on the pan will sizzle when it’s ready. Add the rest of the olive oil, the onions, carrots, apple, and scallions; slow-cook until soft but not browned. Add the sherry and cook for another 10 minutes.

    Step 3

    Peel the skin from the squash and cut the squash into chunks. Working in batches as needed, place the squash, the other cooked ingredients, and the broth in a blender and process until smooth. Transfer the soup to a large saucepan and heat through before serving. Season with the curry powder, if desired, and a few pinches of pepper.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Truth About Nondairy Milks

For Your Best Health

Make it extra virgin

From a taste perspective, we know that a peppery tickle is the key sign of fresh-pressed olive oil, oil is rich in polyphenols, the natural phytonutrients that impart olive oil’s health benefits. On the other hand, the more industrial an olive oil’s production, the less taste there is because, as a consequence, there are fewer polyphenols.

It’s interesting to note that quite a number of the studies that have been done on the Mediterranean diet, whose centerpiece is olive oil, didn’t qualify the type of olive oil in people’s diets when their eating habits were recorded or evaluated. The most recent study on olive oil’s benefits, conducted in Spain with 12,161 participants, confirms that this matters. 

This study: “Only virgin type of olive oil consumption reduces the risk of mortality: Results from a Mediterranean population-based cohort,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2022.

The background: “The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) represents the dietary pattern that was typically consumed among populations bordering the Mediterranean Sea. This pattern has been strongly and consistently associated with healthy aging and with a reduced risk of mortality, in addition to other health outcomes, such as a deduction in developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, and cancer. 

“The traditional MedDiet is characterized by a high intake of olive oil (OO), fruits, nuts, vegetables, and cereals; a moderate intake of fish and poultry; a low intake of dairy products, red meat, processed meats, and sweets; and a moderate consumption of wine at mealtimes.

“OO is not only the main culinary and dressing fat in Mediterranean countries, but also sets the MedDiet apart from other healthy dietary patterns. There is some observational evidence that OO may play a major role in explaining the associations of the MedDiet with a lower incidence of several chronic diseases, especially CVD. Virgin OO (the highest-quality variety, obtained by mechanical processes and rich in phenolic compounds), has shown to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-atherosclerotic properties as well as beneficial effects on endothelial function and blood pressure control.”

What we know from past studies: “In the five-year PREDIMED clinical trial, which randomized 7,447 older adults, cardiovascular and total mortality were respectively 38 percent and 10 percent lower among those assigned to a MedDiet supplemented with virgin OO (the goal was to consume 50 g [just under four tablespoons] or more per day) when compared to those assigned to a reduced-fat diet. In a subsequent observational analysis of the PREDIMED population, total OO consumption at baseline was associated with reduced total and cardiovascular mortality, but no significant association was found with cancer mortality. Likewise, in the preceding EPIC-Spain cohort study, both common (processed and refined) and virgin OO (unprocessed and unrefined) varieties were associated with a decreased risk of total and cardiovascular mortality but not with cancer mortality.

“In recent decades, OO has become more popular outside the Mediterranean countries, even in US population. [A] recent study conducted among 60,582 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 31,801 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study has found an inverse association between OO consumption and risk of total and cause-specific mortality. Compared with those who never or rarely consume total OO, those in the highest category of OO consumption (>7 g/d) had 19 percent lower risk of total and CVD mortality and 17 percent lower risk of cancer mortality.

“In European cohorts, however, inconclusive results regarding OO consumption and mortality have been observed. Of note is that—except for the Spanish EPIC cohort and the PREDIMED trial—none of these studies reported the results broking down by main OO varieties. This distinction is important because refined OO has much lower levels of bioactive compounds than virgin OO and may therefore have fewer health benefits.

“Virgin OO contains much higher amounts of bioactive compounds like polyphenols, which have important biological properties. Thus, as interest grows in identifying the best source of fat for human health, studies on the impact of the main OO varieties on mortality as well as the consumption amount required to generate optimal protection are warranted.”

The aim of this study: “Evidence on the association between virgin olive oil and mortality is limited since no attempt has previously been made to discern about main olive oil varieties…we aimed to assess the associations between common and virgin OO consumption and long-term risk of death (all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality) in a large and representative sample of Spanish adults…recruited between 2008 and 2010 and followed up through 2019. Habitual food consumption was collected at baseline with a validated computerized dietary history.” 

The results: “In this representative sample of the Spanish adult population, while common OO was not associated with mortality, virgin OO was associated with a significant 34 percent reduction in all-cause and 57 percent cardiovascular mortality when comparing negligible consumption vs. ~20 g/day of consumption … This is the first study in which a clear benefit on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality has been observed for virgin OO but not for the common OO variety.” 

As the researchers concluded, “these findings may be useful to reappraise dietary guidelines” so that virgin olive oil is specifically suggested for better health. They also pointed out that their work did not find any effect from any type of olive oil on cancer mortality, though other studies, such as the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study they referenced, did find that virgin olive oil may have a protective effect lowering the risk for getting certain cancers. 

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #107

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Short Ribs Dijon-style Recipe, Spotlight on Shallots, How Breathing Calms Stress and Gym-Free Weight-Lifting Exercises for Everyone

Looking for a hearty meal for cold winter nights? Short ribs, braised in a mustard-wine sauce until the meat falls off the bone, fits the bill and delivers a presentation fit for company. The secret ingredient is shallots. Read on to learn about them. You’ll also read about thought-provoking research on the calming effects of breathing, plus where to put the most effort when strength-training. 

Short Ribs Dijon-style

  • Short Ribs Dijon-style Short Ribs Dijon-style

    This dish gets even better over time. Feel free to make it a day or two in advance and reheat slowly in the oven. 

    Ingredients

    • 1 bottle of good-quality red wine, such as Beaujolais Nouveau
    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 8 beef short ribs, each measuring about 4″ by 3″
    • 2 tablespoons flour
    • 12 shallots, peeled 
    • ½ cup best-quality Dijon mustard
    • 1 28-ounce can of plum tomatoes 
    • Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

    Directions

    Step 1

    In a nonreactive saucepan, reduce the wine by 75 percent and set aside. Heat a heavy skillet large enough to hold the short ribs. While the pan is getting hot, lightly dredge the ribs in the flour; shake off any excess. Add the olive oil to the hot pan and then the ribs, searing them on all sides.

    Step 2

    Transfer the ribs to a bowl next to your cooktop and add the shallots to the skillet; cook them over low heat until tender and slightly caramelized. Then transfer them to a separate bowl next to your cooktop. Deglaze the pan with the reduced wine and whisk in the mustard. Return the ribs to the skillet, lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for two hours.

    Step 3

    Drain the canned tomatoes, reserving the juice in case the sauce becomes too thick. Add the tomatoes to the skillet along with the shallots and simmer, partially covered, for another hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

    Yields 4 servings

Food Pairings: The Power of Purple Potatoes

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Say yes to shallots

A member of the Allium family, which also includes onions, scallions, garlic, and chives, shallots often have a pricier profile than their cousins, but it takes only a few of these nuggets to get sweet results. Shallots aren’t quite as sharp as onions or as intense as garlic. They grow in bulbs just like garlic, but are sold as individual cloves—you might find shallots barely bigger than a large garlic clove or nearly as large as an entire garlic bulb. Ounce for ounce, shallots can substitute for onions, and their thin peel makes for little waste when prepping them. From a health perspective, shallots are a great source of key minerals and are chock-full of antioxidants, including phenolic compounds like quercetin, according to the journal Antioxidants.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Sweet spices for savory dishes

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Buying and storing shallots

Look for firm shallots that feel heavy in your hand. The peel should be a copper color and smooth, not shriveled. As with onions and garlic, skip any that have started sprouting at the tip and store them in the same way, in a dark cabinet. Use them within a week or two for optimal taste.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Truth About Nondairy Milks

For Your Best Health

How breathing calms stress

We’ve all experienced the calming effect of taking a few deep breaths, but did you ever wonder why the technique is so effective? Professor Micah Allen, PhD, and colleagues from the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University in Denmark have come a step closer to understanding the breath-brain connection. The researchers used results from more than a dozen studies with rodent, monkey, and human brain imaging to propose a new computational model that explains how breathing influences the brain.

“What we found is that, across many different types of tasks and animals, brain rhythms are closely tied to the rhythm of our breath. We are more sensitive to the outside world when we are breathing in, whereas the brain tunes out more when we breathe out. This also aligns with how some extreme sports use breathing; for example, professional marksmen are trained to pull the trigger at the end of exhalation,” explained Dr. Allen.

Breathing is more than just something we do to stay alive, the study found. “It suggests that the brain and breathing are closely intertwined in a way that goes far beyond survival to actually impact our emotions, our attention, and how we process the outside world,” detailed Dr. Allen. “Our model suggests there is a common mechanism in the brain which links the rhythm of breathing to these events.”

The findings have already prompted ideas for future studies in people with respiratory or mood disorders, for example. Aarhus PhD candidate Malthe Brændholt is conducting brain imaging studies to try to understand how different kinds of emotional and visual perceptions influence the brain while breathing. The team is also collaborating with the pulmonology group at Aarhus University Hospital, where tools developed in the lab are being used to understand whether people with long-COVID may have disruptions in their breath-brain alignment. 

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Value of Variety

Fitness Flash

Put down those weights…this way!

New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia, Niigata University and Nishi Kyushu University in Japan, and Brazil’s Londrina State University shows that eccentric muscle contractions—in which activated muscles are lengthened while lowering weights—are most effective at increasing muscle strength and size compared with the action of lifting weights.

ECU professor Ken Nosaka, PhD, explained that the results reinforce previous research. “We already know only one eccentric muscle contraction a day can increase muscle strength if it is performed five days a week—even if it’s only three seconds a day—but concentric (lifting a weight) or isometric muscle contraction (holding a weight) does not provide such an effect,” Dr. Nosaka said. “In the case of a dumbbell curl, many people may believe the lifting action provides the most benefit, or at least some benefit, but we found concentric muscle contractions contributed little to the training effects.”

The study compared the results of a non-exercising control group to three groups who performed dumbbell curls twice a week for five weeks. One group did only eccentric-only muscle contractions, another group did concentric-only muscle contractions, and the third group did both concentric and eccentric muscle contractions (lifting and lowering weight alternatively). All three training groups saw improvements in concentric strength, but this was the only improvement for the concentric-only group. The eccentric-only and concentric-eccentric groups also saw significant improvements in isometric (static) strength and eccentric strength. “Understanding the benefits of eccentric-focused training can allow people to spend their time exercising more efficiently,” Dr. Nosaka said.

How can you lower a weight without lifting it first? With dumbbell exercises such as bicep curls, overhead extensions, front raises, and the shoulder press, he recommends using two hands to help with the concentric (lifting weight) phase before using one arm for the eccentric phase (lowering weight). You can apply the same technique with knee extensions, leg curls, and calf raises done on weight machines for the legs. 

Can’t get to the gym? Dr. Nosaka suggests home exercises that use the same principles. In each, gradually stretch the contracting muscles from the start to the end of the range of motion and, after each eccentric muscle contraction, minimize the effort to go back to the starting position; repeat each one 10 times.

  • Chair sit: From a half-squatting position, sit down slowly on a chair to a count of three (narrower and wider stances will create different effects).
  • Chair recline: Sit at the front of a chair to make a space between your back and the backrest; recline back slowly in three seconds (arms can be crossed at the chest or held at the back of a head).
  • Uneven squat: Stand behind a chair, lean to one side to put more weight on one leg, then squat down in three seconds.
  • Heel down: Still behind a chair, lean forward and raise your heels. Then, lift one leg off the ground and lower the heel of the other leg in three seconds.
  • Wall kiss: Stand before a wall with both arms fully extended in front of you. Bend the elbow joint slowly over three seconds until your face gets close to the wall.
  • Front lunge: Place one leg in front of the other and bend the knees deeper over three seconds.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #106

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Seafood Fra Diavolo Recipe, Spotlight on Peppers and Tomatoes, and Issues with Late Night Snacking

’Tis the season for indulgences, and there’s no better place to start than in the kitchen with festive seafood fra diavolo, a zesty tomato sauce‒based dish. It comes together in only minutes! I’m also sharing new findings on the benefits of tomatoes and, to get a head-start on your New Year’s resolutions, an explanation of why late-night eating can derail your health efforts.

Seafood Fra Diavolo

  • Seafood Fra Diavolo Seafood Fra Diavolo

    This Italian classic often gets its heat from pepperoncino (red pepper) flakes, but I love the depth that comes from including fresh serrano pepper in the garlic and onion sauté. For another layer of flavor, I use a full can of tomato paste. So delicious, plus you can make it your own with any seafood you like—go simple with shrimp, lavish with lobster tail meat and scallops or easy with chunks of your favorite fish!. As a final step to this recipe, you might stir in a pound of shelled shrimp and cook until opaque. Serve it with or without pasta. It’s also delicious with any legume-based pasta—top with a good amount of grated Parmesan or Pecorino.

    Ingredients

    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more as needed
    • 2 pounds assorted seafood, such as 8 ounces each peeled shrimp, scallops, calamari rings, and crabmeat
    • ½ cup finely chopped onion
    • 1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
    • 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
    • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
    • ½ cup red wine
    • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
    • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
    • Pinch of salt

    Directions

    Step 1

    Heat a large skillet—it’s ready when a few drops of water sizzle on the surface. Add the olive oil and then the seafood, gently searing it on all sides. With a slotted spoon, transfer the seafood to a bowl next to your cooktop. Add more oil to the pan if needed, then add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent, but not browned. 

    Step 2

    Add the pepper and garlic and cook until soft. Then add the tomato paste and cook it until fragrant and almost brown-burgundy in color, whisking it constantly as it caramelizes. Slowly whisk in the wine and then add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, and salt, and heat through.

    Step 3

    Return the seafood to the pan and cook for 3–4 minutes until cooked through. Serve over your choice of pasta.

    Yields 4 servings

Food Pairings: The Power of Purple Potatoes

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Heat advisory: picking peppers

When fresh chile peppers aren’t available, dried varieties are great alternatives. Wondering whether to grab the cayenne or add a few shakes from the jar of red pepper flakes? It depends on how spicy you want your dish. As its name implies, cayenne is made purely from cayenne peppers, which are some of the hottest chiles. As cayenne is usually close to a powder, it will infuse your entire dish with heat. Red pepper flakes are more generic in nature. They’re typically made from a combination of three or four different chile varieties, cayenne included, and will deliver milder heat—you can always add more at the table if you want it spicier.  

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Sweet spices for savory dishes

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Why you should sauté tomato paste

You might have been surprised to see in the direction to cook the tomato paste in the fra diavolo recipe before adding the next ingredients. It’s a step you should always follow, even if the directions call for a very small amount. Doing so brings out the sweet flavor of the tomatoes and gets rid of any tinny taste it might have when “raw” from the can.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Truth About Nondairy Milks

For Your Best Health

Another reason to eat more tomatoes

You likely know that cooked tomatoes have high levels of lycopene, an antioxidant that fights off cell damage and protects your immune system, plus lots of lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health. Research has also found links between eating tomatoes and a reduced risk for developing heart disease and some cancers. Now scientists at The Ohio State University have learned from an animal study that tomatoes have the potential to boost the diversity of gut bacteria. That’s important because the makeup of your gut microbiome—the community of microorganisms in your GI tract—has a lot of influence on the health of your entire body.  

The scientists did their study using pigs because their GI tracts are more similar to the human digestive system than are more typical lab animals. Also, the tomatoes, similar to the type typically found in canned tomato products, were developed by OSU geneticist and study co-author David Francis. Benefits to the gut biome were seen after the animals were fed a diet heavy in tomatoes for just two weeks.

The next study will be on people. “It’s possible that tomatoes impart benefits through their modulation of the gut microbiome,” said senior author Jessica Cooperstone, assistant professor of horticulture and crop science as well as food science and technology at OSU. “Overall dietary patterns have been associated with differences in microbiome composition, but food-specific effects haven’t been studied very much. To really understand the mechanisms, we need to do more of this kind of work in the long term in humans. We also want to understand the complex interplay—how does consuming these foods change the composition of what microbes are present and, functionally, what does that do? … A better understanding could lead to more evidence-based dietary recommendations for long-term health.”

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Value of Variety

Fitness Flash

Late meals and midnight snacks: just say no

They say a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. But research continues to show that calories eaten late at night don’t seem to have the same effect on the body as ones eaten earlier in the day: They tend to lead to weight gain, increased body fat, and a difficulty in losing weight. Now scientists atBrigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have discovered why that is. “We wanted to test the mechanisms that may explain why late eating increases obesity risk,” explained senior author Frank A.J.L. Scheer, PhD, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program in Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. 

The research involved 16 people with a BMI in the overweight or obese range. Each participant completed two separate components of the study, one day on an early meal schedule and the other day with the exact same meals, but with each one scheduled about four hours later in the day. The participants reported on their hunger and appetite, had blood and fat tissue samples taken throughout each study day, and had their body temperature and calorie use measured. 

Explained first author Nina Vujovic, PhD, a researcher in Brigham’s Medical Chronobiology Program, “In this study, we asked, ‘Does the time that we eat matter when everything else is kept consistent?’ And we found that eating four hours later makes a significant difference for our hunger levels, the way we burn calories after we eat [at a slower rate], and the way we store fat.” Results also showed that eating later had profound effects on two hormones: leptin, which tells us when we’ve had enough food, and ghrelin, which influences the drive to eat. Leptin levels were lower across the entire 24 hours on the day participants ate later meals compared with when they ate earlier in the day. 

While more research is needed to see whether these findings will hold in real life as they did during the controlled parameters of the study, it looks promising that one strategy to promote weight loss and limit weight gain is to schedule meals earlier in the day, according to Dr. Scheer.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #105

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Clam Cakes Remoulade Recipe, Spotlight on Canned Clams and Clam Juice, the Importance of Short Breaks and Physical Function

Clambake season may be over, but clam cakes are always on the menu. In fact, wild clams are available year-round. And they’re so easy to make with my easy-peasy recipe. I’m just as excited to share the results of research that shows the value of taking regular breaks from tasks—just 10 minutes for a refresh. Plus, with a nod to preventive care, another study found that there’s no time like the present to work on your “physical function.” Simply put, it’s the ease (or difficulty) with which you move in everyday ways. When physical function is poor in later years, it increases not only your risk for falling, but also for life-threatening heart events.

Clam Cakes Remoulade

  • Clam Cakes Remoulade Clam Cakes Remoulade

    These clam cakes come together in minutes. The remoulade sauce is a delicious garnish—use any leftovers as a flavorful sandwich spread. 

    Ingredients

    For the remoulade:

    • 1 cup high-quality mayonnaise
    • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
    • 1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Cholula or Sriracha
    • 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Obrycki’s or Old Bay
    • 1 large pickle spear, finely diced
    • 1 tablespoon pickle juice
    • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika

    For the clam cakes:

    • 6 ounces of clams, freshly steamed or canned and drained
    • 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
    • 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and quartered
    • 1 stalk celery, trimmed and cut into chunks
    • 12 spicy corn tortilla chips, such as Garden of Eatin’ Red Hot Blues 
    • 1 cup white whole wheat flour, divided
    • 1/2 cup high-quality mayonnaise
    • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Cholula or Sriracha
    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

    Directions

    Step 1

    For the remoulade: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until needed.

    Step 2

    For the clam cakes: If you’re steaming fresh clams, reserve the juice they release for another recipe. If you’re using large cherrystones, use kitchen shears to cut them into pieces for easier processing. Pulse the clams, vegetables, and chips in a food processor until you get a fine dice. Transfer to a large bowl and fold in half the flour, the mayo, hot sauce, and parsley. Form into about 10 small or 6 large patties. 

    Step 3

    Place the rest of the flour in a pie plate. Heat a heavy skillet and then add the olive oil. Very lightly dip both sides of each patty into the flour, shake off any excess, and place in skillet. Cook until a light crust develops, about 5 to 8 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes.

    Step 4

    Transfer the clam cakes to a serving dish or individual plates. Top with dollops of the remoulade and pass more on the side. 

    Yields 3-4 servings

Food Pairings: The Power of Purple Potatoes

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Canned clams step in for fresh

You probably have cans of high-quality tuna in your pantry, but what about clams? Flavorful and sweet, canned clams deserve a place there too. For recipes from clam cakes to linguine with clam sauce, they’re a great alternative to fresh, and always having them on hand means you can pull together a meal in short order. Read labels and choose brands that state product of the US.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Sweet spices for savory dishes

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Get these juices flowing

Fresh clam juice is a world apart from the bottled variety. So, whenever you steam fresh clams, save the liquid in your pot. Strain it through fine cheesecloth to move any grains of sand, and use within a few days or freeze in freezer-safe containers labeled with the date (use within a year). Clam juice works very well in seafood recipes that call for fish broth, from soups to stews to poached fish. Keep in mind that clam juice is naturally salty, thanks to the clam’s native habitat—the ocean. So, be sure to taste often when using it in a recipe; you can probably cut down on the amount of salt called for. 

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Truth About Nondairy Milks

For Your Best Health

Take 10…often

Are you bogged down by endless tasks at work? Taking short breaks rather than staying glued to your desk until the day’s done could give you a boost and lessen fatigue. That was the main finding of a research review done at the West University of Timisoara in Romania. Patricia Albulescu, PhD, and colleagues looked at 22 recent studies investigating the potential benefits of taking micro-breaks from assigned tasks. 

The tasks varied from one study to another and so did the types of breaks—physical breaks, relaxing activities, and more engaging activities, such as watching videos. Nonetheless, the scientists found an overall link between micro-breaks, higher levels of vigor, and lower fatigue in participants, suggesting that these work pauses may contribute to well-being. They also found that longer breaks tended to be linked to better performance, especially for creative or clerical tasks, though less so for more cognitively demanding tasks—longer breaks may be needed for recovery from them. The review was published in the journal PLOS One on August 31, 2022.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Value of Variety

Fitness Flash

Physical function, not just fitness

Different from physical fitness (though definitely linked to it), physical function relates to mobility, assessing your walking speed, leg strength, speed of rising from a chair without using your hands, and balance. Research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that having lower physical function was independently associated with a greater risk of developing heart attack, heart failure, and stroke in people over age 65. 

“While traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, or diabetes are closely linked to cardiovascular disease, particularly in middle-aged people, we also know these factors may not be as predictive in older adults, so we need to identify nontraditional predictors for older adults,” says study senior author Kunihiro Matsushita, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Division of Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “We found that physical function in older adults predicts future cardiovascular disease beyond traditional heart disease risk factors, regardless of whether an individual has a history of cardiovascular disease.”

The researchers analyzed health data from 5,570 adults over an eight-year period. Using participants’ scores on the Short Physical Performance Battery, a test that measures various aspects of physical function, they were categorized as having low, intermediate, or high physical function. Here’s what they found:

  • Compared to adults with high physical function scores, those with low scores were 47 percent more likely to experience at least one cardiovascular disease event, and those with intermediate physical function scores had a 25 percent higher risk of having at least one cardiovascular disease event.
  • The association between physical function and cardiovascular disease remained after taking into account traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors such as age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
  • The physical function score contributed to the risk prediction of cardiovascular disease outcomes beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors, regardless of whether individuals had a history of cardiovascular disease or were healthy.

“Our findings highlight the value of assessing the physical function level of older adults in clinical practice,” says study lead author Xiao Hu, MHS, a research data coordinator in the department of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “In addition to heart health, older adults are at higher risk for falls and disability. The assessment of physical function may also inform the risk of these concerning conditions in older adults.”

With falls being a major health threat in later years, what prevention steps are helpful? A 2022 American Heart Association scientific statement titles “Preventing and managing falls in adults with cardiovascular disease” advises medication adjustments, reassessing treatment plans, considering non-drug treatment options, and properly managing heart rhythm disorders. 

It’s never too soon (or too late) to start working on physical function. Talk to your doctor about balance exercises, yoga, tai chi, and other approaches that can help.

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