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The Olive Oil Hunter News #39

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Shrimp with Pesto Recipe, Spotlight on Basil, Reassessing the Perks of Coffee and How Greenspaces Increase Exercise Motivation

Pesto is one of my year-round food favorites. If you’ve had pesto only at restaurants, which by and large make it just one way, you may not realize that pesto isn’t a specific dish but rather a technique. The name comes from the verb pestare—to crush or pound—and pestos are traditionally made with a mortar and pestle. In Italy, you’re likely to experience different versions, depending on the region you’re in. The one constant is extra virgin olive oil, but the beauty of pesto is that you can customize it to your taste and to what you have available in your pantry and garden. The traditional pine nuts can be replaced with pistachios, walnuts, cashews, or almonds. Enhance or switch out the basil with parsley or oregano, watercress or arugula, or a mix of any or all of the above. Try grated pecorino instead of Parmesan. Then experiment with how to enjoy it—from sandwich spread to a sauce for steak, pesto is not for pasta only.

Shrimp with Pesto

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #39 Shrimp with Pesto

    This recipe has traditional ingredients, but you can use the proportions as a guide when you want to customize it. For a more filling dish, fold in cooked pasta, rice, or another grain, and/or a variety of bite-sized vegetables such as cherry tomatoes and steamed broccoli florets at the end.

    Ingredients

    • 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled
    • 1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves
    • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
    • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 2 tablespoons pine nuts
    • 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving if desired
    • 1/3 cup fresh-pressed extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving if desired
    • Kosher or sea salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper

    Directions

    Boil the shrimp for 3 minutes, or until they turn pink. Drain, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, and transfer to a large bowl. Place the basil, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, and cheese in a blender or food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil and process until the pesto is emulsified. If it’s too thick, add more oil, one tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour desired amount over the shrimp—you may not need it all, and toss to coat. Sprinkle with additional cheese and a drizzle of olive oil at the table.

    Yields 4 servings.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Growing Bountiful Basil

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Growing Bountiful Basil

Basil adds wonderful flavor to pesto, pizza, and pasta sauces. Some people like it strongly flavored, but if you want just a hint, pick small, young leaves—the taste intensifies as they grow. It’s not too late to start your own basil plant in an outdoor patio pot or in the garden, but at this point in the season, shop for established plants rather than seeds so you can start using it quickly. Basil does best when the temperature is over 70 degrees and it gets morning sun—choose an area that becomes shady in the mid-afternoon. Make sure to give it plenty of water, especially if it’s in a pot rather than the ground—don’t let the soil dry out between waterings, but don’t drench it either. In the garden, mulch will help retain moisture. As is true for most plants, you want to harvest it regularly because this tells the plant to keep producing. (Pinch off a few top leaves every other day even if you don’t need them.) When the weather gets very hot, basil will bolt, or push out flowers and go to seed. Snip off the flowers as soon as you see them to slow the process, as bolting makes the leaves taste bitter.

Healthy Kitchen Tip: How to Freeze Herbs

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Herbal Deep Freeze

What can you do with extra basil? Process clean leaves with olive oil, and freeze in an ice cube tray. Transfer the cubes to a freezer bag and you’ll have a stash for the future. You can do the same with pesto.

For Your Best Health: Reassessing the Perks of Coffee

For Your Best Health

Reassessing the Perks of Coffee

Many of us who love our morning coffee enjoy the ritual of brewing it and sipping it to start the day. Caffeine has many health benefits, notably for your liver. But a new study on the impact of caffeine after a night of sleep deprivation, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, found that it can’t make up for missed sleep in all the ways you’d like it to. Research participants were asked to complete a simple task requiring them to pay attention as well as a more challenging “place-keeping” task, the kind that necessitates a series of steps completed in a set order.

“We found that sleep deprivation impaired performance on both types of tasks and that having caffeine helped people successfully achieve the easier task. However, it had little effect on performance on the place-keeping task for most participants,” says Kimberly Fenn, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the Michigan State University Sleep and Learning Lab. “Caffeine may improve the ability to stay awake and attend to a task, but it doesn’t do much to prevent the sort of procedural errors that can cause things like medical mistakes and car accidents.” While caffeine increases energy, reduces sleepiness, and can even boost mood, it absolutely does not replace a full night of sleep, Dr. Fenn adds. So, whether you use a French press or Nespresso capsules, you still want to prioritize getting nightly shut-eye.

Fitness Flash: Greenspaces Increase Exercise Motivation

Fitness Flash

Greenspaces Increase Exercise Motivation

Want to be more active? Spend more time in nature. That’s one of the important conclusions of the latest research done by the Stanford Natural Capital Project in its pioneering effort to inform city planners on how best to design greenspaces to support good health. We know that spending time in nature benefits cognitive, emotional, and spiritual health. Turns out that it also benefits physical health because being outdoors spurs people, city dwellers included, to exercise more. For instance, a tree-lined street often encourages taking a long walk or even biking to work.

“Nature experience boosts memory, attention, and creativity as well as happiness, social engagement, and a sense of meaning in life,” says Gretchen C. Daily, co-founder and faculty director of the Natural Capital Project and senior author of the study. “It might not surprise us that nature stimulates physical activity, but the associated health benefits—from reducing cancer risks to promoting metabolic and other functioning—are really quite astonishing.”

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will ultimately serve as the basis for a new health model in Natural Capital Project software—free, open-source tools that map the many benefits nature provides people. It allows planners to identify where urban nature is missing in communities and then work to fill those gaps.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #38

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Lamb Loin Chops with Lemon-Mint Gremolata, Spotlight on Gremolata, Why Proteins Need to Rest, Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Country, and Exercise for Your Brain

Lamb is finally having its moment in American cuisine. Many of us didn’t grow up eating lamb, so if you’ve never tried it, you may just think you don’t like it. Or if you’ve only known it as a special occasion or holiday dish, it might not occur to you to shop for it on a regular basis. But lamb has a mild, tender taste that meat eaters will love, and loin or shoulder chops are perfect for the grill any day of the year. Salt, pepper, and a quick rub with extra virgin olive oil, and you’re set to go.

Lamb Loin Chops with Lemon-Mint Gremolata

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #38 Lamb Loin Chops with Lemon-Mint Gremolata

    Lamb is finally having its moment in American cuisine. Many of us didn’t grow up eating lamb, so if you’ve never tried it, you may just think you don’t like it. Or if you’ve only known it as a special occasion or holiday dish, it might not occur to you to shop for it on a regular basis. But lamb has a mild, tender taste that meat eaters will love, and loin or shoulder chops are perfect for the grill any day of the year. Salt, pepper, and a quick rub with extra virgin olive oil, and you’re set to go.

    Ingredients

    • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
    • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
    • 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
    • Zest of 1 lemon
    • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
    • 1/4 cup shelled hazelnuts
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing on the lamb chops
    • Kosher salt to taste
    • Coarsely ground black pepper to taste
    • 8 lamb loin chops

    Directions

    Step 1

    Make the gremolata: In a blender or mini food processor, combine the garlic, mint, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and hazelnuts. Pulse several times, and then slowly add the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Process until relatively smooth. If the mixture seems stiff, add a small amount of water. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve.

    Step 2

    Preheat your grill to medium-high. Brush the lamb chops on both sides with olive oil, and season well with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. After letting chops rest for 5 minutes, plate two chops per person with a healthy dollop of the gremolata and pass the rest.

    Yields 4 servings.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Red Pepper Flakes

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

The Greatness of Gremolata

If you’re a sauce maven like me, you need gremolata in your repertoire. Traditionally used as a garnish for osso buco, the slow-braised veal shank dish from the Lombardy region, this classic Italian mixture is a masterful garnish for all types of foods, from grilled meat, chicken, and fish to roasted vegetables and creamy soups. Always use the freshest parsley, mint, and garlic, and make it as close to mealtime as possible for the best flavor.

Healthy Kitchen Tip: Why Proteins Need to Rest

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Why Proteins Need to Rest

I always say it about grilled meats, but the same goes for roasts: Proteins need to rest and redistribute their juices before you cut into them. Otherwise, those juices will pour out—and will often be lost—as you make your first slice. Of course, this is more essential, and the rest time is longer, for a large flank steak than for individual lamb chops. Keep in mind that during this time out of the oven or off the grill, the food continues to cook, and its internal temperature will rise anywhere from a few degrees in a small portion of meat to 10 or 15 degrees in a turkey. Consider these additional degrees when testing food with your instant-read thermometer, and take it off the heat source accordingly, to avoid going beyond the level of doneness you desire.

For Your Best Health: Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Country

For Your Best Health

Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Country

Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club know that I’ve been working with artisanal olive growers in Spain for my extra virgin olive oil since 2005. Olive oil courses through daily life in Spanish towns—when people hear you are interested in olive oil, they brighten, invariably promising to put you in touch with their cousin or neighbor who grows olives. Olive oil is such an integral part of the Mediterranean diet of healthy fats, legumes, fruits, and vegetables, which Spaniards elevate to great heights with their fabulous cuisine. So it was no surprise to me when Spain ranked #1 in the last Bloomberg Global Health Index report.

The index uses a group of factors to rank the countries of the world on a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being the ideal. The factors are life expectancy, malnutrition, causes of death, the availability of clean water, and health risks like tobacco use, high blood pressure, and obesity. With a score of 92.75, Spain took top honors. It boasts a life expectancy projected to rise to 85.8 years by 2040—the highest in the world. In addition to its signature healthy diet, Spain is also a country of walkers, which is so great for fitness. And guess what country came in second? Its close neighbor on the other side of the Mediterranean: Italy!

Fitness Flash: Exercise is Good for your Mind

Fitness Flash

Exercise: Good for the Mind

A recent report in ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal crystallized what health experts have been saying for years: Beyond its benefits for physical health, exercise is great for mental health, with both short- and long-term advantages. Across your life span, the more you engage in physical activity, the more you can reduce the risk of depression and anxiety, two crippling mental illnesses. And should you develop one of these issues, the cumulative effects of regular exercise can help you cope better.

Just having a bad day? An exercise session can get you out of a blue mood and defuse anger, stress, and tension. Get in a brisk walk at lunch, and you may find that you have better concentration and renewed enthusiasm in the afternoon.

Scientists don’t have a magic formula for the type, intensity, or length of a mental health-boosting workout, but that’s not really a problem. Sticking with a workout plan is what’s most important, and the secret to doing that is to go with your individual preferences—there’s no point in forcing yourself to run for five miles if what you really like to do is play tennis. Know that mind-body exercises like yoga, tai chi, and qigong can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as other forms of exercise do, and put together a menu of choices that appeal to you. Even though fitness guidelines for heart health look at weekly totals—150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week (plus resistance and flexibility exercises), the more you can spread out those minutes, the better: 10 to 20 minutes each and (almost) every day is most helpful to regulate mood.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #37

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Grilled Cauliflower Fajitas, Spotlight on Ancho Chiles, How to Create Grill Marks, Outdoor Cooking Safety and Health Benefits of Swimming

I love to mix up my grill menu, and this week’s recipe is a winner—even if you’re not a vegetarian. Cauliflower is a wonderful vehicle for classic fajita flavors—poblano and ancho chiles, merquén and cumin, and plenty of fresh herbs. Cutting the head into small florets rather than steaks means the filling is ready to go as soon as it comes off the grill—no need to slice hot food.

Grilled Cauliflower Fajitas

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #37 Grilled Cauliflower Fajitas

    One of the best things about fajitas is that you can stuff them with anything that suits your fancy. If dairy’s not a concern, shredded cheese is a winner, and so is a dollop of sour cream. If you want to double up on the veggies, add some shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and more onions and peppers. Half the fun is letting everyone put together the combo of ingredients they like best. This recipe was adapted from a dish served at El Toro Blanco, a wonderful Mexican restaurant in New York City.

    With over 6 percent of Americans identifying as vegan and millions more describing themselves as “vegetarianinclined,” a meatless main course option belongs in your recipe repertoire.

    Ingredients

    • 1 head cauliflower, green leaves and stem removed
    • 1 orange or red bell pepper, stemmed, seeds and veins removed
    • 1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeds and veins removed
    • 1 white onion, sliced
    • 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
    • 1 tablespoon merquén or pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
    • 1/2 cup fresh herbs, such as cilantro, parsley, and basil, stemmed and chopped
    • 8 corn tortillas
    • 1 cup salsa or pico de gallo
    • Lime wedges

    Directions

    Step 1

    Cut the cauliflower into florets and slice the red and poblano peppers into long strips. Place the cauliflower, peppers, and onions in a large bowl. Whisk together the ancho powder, merquén or pimentón, cumin, salt, and olive oil and add to the vegetables, tossing until they’re thoroughly coated. Transfer to a grill basket.

    Step 2

    Preheat your grill to medium-high, and then grill the cauliflower mixture until slightly charred and tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove from the grill, transfer to a platter, and sprinkle with the pine nuts and herbs. While the grill is still hot, warm the tortillas. To serve, let each person fill two tortillas with equal amounts of the cauliflower mixture and top with salsa or pico de gallo and a squeeze of lime.

    Serves 4 — Recipe adapted from El Toro Blanco, New York, NY

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Ancho Chiles

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Ancho Chiles: Sweet and Smoky

While hot peppers are related to each other, poblano and ancho chiles are closer than most. Poblanos are large, mild, green chiles that originated in Puebla, Mexico. Anchos are simply poblanos that have been ripened and dried. They’re named for their shape—“ancho” chile literally means wide chile in Spanish. Still relatively mild and fruity, ancho chiles take on a smoky taste that adds another layer of flavor to recipes. You can use them whole, often after reconstituting with a soak in water—once softened, purée them for a great sauce base. Or you can remove the stems and seeds and grind them to a fine powder—add some extra virgin olive oil and you have the start of a great marinade. Use a sprinkle instead of black pepper to season scrambled eggs or sautéed snap peas.

Healthy Kitchen Tip: How to Create Grill Marks

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

How to Create Grill Marks

Here’s a simple trick to getting appealing crosshatches on grilled foods—from burgers to bruschetta to cauliflower “steaks.” Place the food directly on the grill and let it sear until it lifts up on its own, usually in a few minutes—less for bread, more for raw meat. Give the food a quarter turn (think of the hands on a clock moving from 12 to 3). Sear that side again for a few minutes. Then flip the food and repeat the steps for grill marks on the other side.

For Your Best Health: Outdoor Cooking Safety

For Your Best Health

Outdoor Cooking Safety

Cooking and eating outdoors are two of the pleasures of warm months, but be sure to take your safe cooking practices with you when you go outside.

Keep raw food away from cooked food, just as you would in the kitchen. You might set up separate stations on your patio. If you bring burger patties to your grill on a platter, wash the platter in hot, soapy water before you use it to hold the cooked burgers.

Want to use marinade as a sauce? Divide the mixture as soon as you make it—use half to marinate food, and save the other half separately to pass later with the cooked dish. Always marinate foods in the fridge—keep them there until you’re ready to grill. Have disposable wipes handy to clean up spills.

Because bacteria multiply faster at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F, keep hot food hot at or above 140°F, and cold food cold at or below 40°F. It’s not safe to keep cold or hot food out for more than two hours, or more than one hour if the outdoor temperature is above 90°F. If you’re having a party that will go for a long time, bring out and/or cook small, fresh batches of food over the course of your event rather than all out at once. One easy trick is to keep your serving dishes on a bed of ice in a cooler or shady area. Drain off water and add more ice as it melts. Use an instant read thermometer to take the guesswork out of cooking times and help eliminate any bacteria. Hamburgers should register at 160°F and chicken at 165°F. Steak, pork, and other red meats are safe when cooked to 145°F.

Fitness Flash: Health Benefits of Swimming

Fitness Flash

Everyone Into the Pool!

Hands down, swimming is the one aerobic exercise that doesn’t feel like work. (No, floating around on a noodle doesn’t count.) The water cushions your body, so it’s a gentle workout—great if you have joint issues. Swimming taps every muscle, yet it’s forgiving if you don’t have the form of Michael Phelps. And it can ease stress and give you a mental boost even greater than a runner’s high. If it’s been some time since you swam vigorously, a refresher course on the various strokes will quickly get you “in the swim.” To find out more, check out the website of U.S. Masters Swimming—if you don’t have access to your own or a community pool, use its tool to find a swim club near you to get started.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #36

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Chacareo Chileno Recipe, Spotlight on Cilantro, No-Bowl Marinade, Feeding Your Brain Through Fitness and Is It Time to Join a CSA?

Ready to elevate your grill game? In this week’s edition of The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter and in many editions to come, I’m going to share with you my favorite recipes for the tastiest and easiest-to-make grilled foods. The recipes often start with a marinade—usually extra virgin olive oil, an acid such as vinegar or lemon juice, and herbs and spices—designed to infuse flavor and help whatever you’re cooking stay juicy. My first tip: The longer you marinate, the more flavorful the food becomes.

The steak sandwich is an American tradition, but I’m shaking it up by going Chilean-style. The mix of tastes and textures makes for a truly memorable experience.

Chacareo Chileno

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #36 Chacareo Chileno

    Santiago’s signature sandwich is the chacarero, a mouth-stretching pileup of grilled steak, mashed avocado, tomato, green beans, and a shot of hot sauce on a soft roll. This unusual combination, chockful of healthy veggies, is served up at casual eateries all over the city, from lunch counters to beer halls. It’s equally delicious when made with grilled pork, chicken, or vegetables, and thanks to the olive oil-based marinade, guaranteed to be anything but ordinary! ​

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 pounds boneless steak, such as rib eye, strip, or sirloin
    • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the rolls
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
    • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, plus whole leaves for serving
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 1 1/2 cups fresh green beans, julienned
    • 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
    • 4 Kaiser rolls or other large soft rolls, sliced and lightly toasted
    • Four thick slices ripe red tomato
    • Thinly sliced jalapeños (optional)
    • Hot sauce for serving

    Directions

    Step 1

    Place the steak in a resealable plastic bag along with 4 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, the chopped cilantro, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Marinate, refrigerated, for 4 to 8 hours. Meanwhile, steam or boil the beans in salted water until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes; plunge them in ice water, then drain and set aside.

    Step 2

    Mash the avocados with the remaining lime juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and set aside. Set up a grill for direct grilling and preheat to medium-high. Drain the steaks. Season well with salt and pepper and grill to medium-rare, turning once with tongs. Let rest for 5 minutes, and then thinly slice on a diagonal. Drizzle the cut sides of the rolls with olive oil. Thickly spread one-fourth of the avocado mixture on the top half of each bun. Divide the meat between the bottom halves of the buns. Top the meat with a tomato slice, jalapeños (if using), cilantro leaves, and green beans. Replace the top half of the bun and press lightly. Serve with hot sauce.

    Yields 4 servings.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Cilantro

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Cilantro: With Olive Oil, It’s a Match Made in Culinary Heaven
There’s no question about it—cilantro is a versatile herb, as integral to Asian cuisines as it is to Mexican and Latin American ones. Rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, cilantro is very nutritious, and I like to use both the leaves and the tender part of the stems, so little goes to waste. Depending on the recipe, you might coarsely hand-chop it or give it a whir in the blender or food processor to make a fine mince or even a purée with the help of a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Growing your own cilantro in the garden or on a windowsill is quite easy, but I suggest starting with a small plant rather than seeds to speed up how soon you’ll be able to take cuttings. In the garden, at the end of the growing season when the plant starts to turn brown, seed heads will develop—you know cilantro seeds as coriander, typically sold dried and used whole or ground. You can make your own coriander by cutting off the seed heads and hanging them in a brown paper bag until fully dry. Then transfer the seeds to a spice jar, label it, and start cooking—toast or grind the seeds, homegrown or store-bought, before using for better flavor.

Fun fact: If you’re a person who just can’t cozy up to the taste of cilantro, it’s not your imagination—it’s your DNA. Research studies, including one done by 23andMe, actually discovered that people who find cilantro unpleasant, often likening the taste to soap or dirt, have a gene that causes this perception. On a positive note, the aversion might not extend to coriander seeds, so be sure to give them a try.

Healthy Kitchen Tip: No-Bowl Marinade

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

No-Bowl Marinade

For a no-fuss, no-cleanup-needed way to marinate food, I use resealable plastic bags, as in the above recipe. Add all your marinade ingredients to a gallon bag, pop in your protein or veggies, seal, and refrigerate. You’ll get good flavor after an hour, but it will intensify the longer you leave the bag in the fridge—up to eight hours or even overnight. Turn the bag occasionally so that the marinade gets evenly distributed.

For Your Best Health: Is It Time to Join a CSA?

For Your Best Health

Is It Time to Join a CSA?

CSA stands for “community supported agriculture,” and for over 25 years, it’s been a great option for buying local seasonal food directly from a farmer. Tens of thousands of families have joined CSAs, and in some areas of the country there is more demand than there are CSA farms to meet it. How it works: The farmer offers a certain number of “shares” or subscriptions that entitle purchasers to a box of fresh-grown foods each week. The CSA model is considered a “shared risk”—customers pay up front for the whole season and the farmers do their best to provide an abundant box of produce each week.

There are also now many variations on the CSA arrangement. With some, members go to their CSA farm and pick and choose what they want from offerings. Plus, many CSAs aren’t limited to produce—some offer eggs, homemade bread, meat, cheese, flowers, and other farm products. For options near you, check out localharvest.org with its database of more than 4,000 CSA farms. You can also learn more about how CSAs work and what to expect.

Fitness Flash: Feeding Your Brain Through Fitness

Fitness Flash

Feeding Your Brain Through Fitness

Your heart isn’t the only organ that benefits from exercise. Turns out that the brain also loves it when you get up and move. That’s one of the key takeaways from Keep Sharp: Building a Better Brain at Any Age, the latest book from neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, MD. Aerobic exercise in particular enhances brain function and its ability to fight off disease—it lowers harmful inflammation and starts a chain reaction that boosts neural cells. If you sit for most of the day, it’s just as important for your brain as for your overall health to get up frequently and walk around.

Among Dr. Gupta’s other tenets are getting enough sleep, continually learning and challenging your brain with problem-solving and reasoning activities, staying connected with others, and eating well. He’s a fan of Martha Clare Morris, epidemiologist and founding member of the Global Council on Brain Health, and her recommendation to follow the Mediterranean way of eating with a diet built on vegetables, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, and olive oil.

Best of all, it’s never too late to get started—your brain and your body will thank you.

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