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Olive Oil Hunter News #184

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Roasted Pear Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Pears and Halloumi, plus Another Reason to Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

Do you love the crispness of autumn and one of the season’s most succulent fruits—pears? Then you’ll love the following recipe, which highlights pears along with one of my favorite cheeses, halloumi. Eating whole foods enhanced with natural ingredients like extra virgin olive oil is a tasty way to get healthy nutrients at every meal. And my dish shows how easy it is to enjoy delicious flavors in just a few steps. Processed foods, on the other hand, might offer greater convenience, but they often come at a cost. I’m sharing the details of a very important report from a group of noted scientists about questionable ingredients in packaged foods that fly under the oversight of the FDA. Though many should probably be considered and called out as additives, an FDA rule allows them to be termed “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, and added to products without scrutiny. It’s another serious situation of buyer beware. I hope you’ll read the summary in its entirety.

Roasted Pear Salad

  • Roasted pear salad Roasted Pear Salad

    As with pears, roasting red onions brings out their sweetness. Rather than just drizzling them with olive oil and maple syrup, this recipe melds those two ingredients first—it’s my take on the “instant caramel” craze that swept the internet over the summer. Its richness is balanced by the slight saltiness of the halloumi and the bitterness of the greens. 

    Ingredients

    • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling
    • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
    • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 4 large ripe firm baking pears, like Anjou, Bosc, or Starkrimson 
    • 1 small red onion 
    • 8 ounces halloumi 
    • 4 cups fresh greens
    • 16 walnut halves

    Directions

    Step 1

    In a large bowl, vigorously whisk 3 tablespoons olive oil and the maple syrup until they meld and the sauce becomes a rich caramel color, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the salt and set aside. 

    Step 2

    Preheat your oven to 375°F. Cut the pears into halves and use a small spoon or melon baller to scoop out the seeds. Cut each pear half in two. Peel the onion and cut into 8 wedges. Add the pears and onions to the sauce and toss gently to coat. Transfer to a rimmed sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes or until caramelized, flipping over the pears and onions halfway through the roasting. 

    Step 3

    Toward the end of the roasting time, sauté the halloumi. Cut the cheese into 8 sections. Heat a frying pan large enough to hold them. When hot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the halloumi pieces. Cook until browned, up to 5 minutes, then flip and repeat.

    Step 4

    Divide the greens among four plates or bowls. Top with equal amounts of pears, onions, halloumi, and walnuts, then drizzle with the roasting pan juices and a splash of olive oil.

    Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Halloumi

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Halloumi

Fried Halloumi cheese

Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club know I’m a huge fan of halloumi (yes, there’s even a video of me grilling it on our Facebook page!). Halloumi not only tastes delicious, but also has the perfect texture for grilling—the mild and slightly briny cheese develops a wonderful smoky flavor while holding its shape. 

This cheese, made from sheep’s (and sometimes goat’s) milk, hails from the island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean where it is made according to centuries-old tradition. Just as I always shop for true Parmigiano-Reggiano and not “parmesan” cheese, buy true halloumi by looking for the special Protected Designation of Origin or PDO mark that certifies it was made there. 

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Choosing pears

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Choosing Pears

There are many sweet and succulent pears to enjoy throughout the fall. If you tend to reach for Bartletts as a default, it’s time to try varieties like Seckel, Comice, and Concorde pears. While any pear that’s ripe can be eaten raw, when you want to roast, poach, or bake pears for special dishes, do choose the firmer ones that won’t fall apart at hot temperatures—Anjou and Bosc. 

If you’ll use them within a few days, keep pears at room temperature. Indeed, they may not be ripe enough to eat when you first get them home because, unlike many other fruits, they must be picked well before they ripen (or else their texture will turn grainy or mushy). If you want to slow the ripening process, keep them in the fridge until 2-3 days before you’ll eat them.  

For Your Best Health: Another Reason to Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

For Your Best Health

Another Reason to Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

The article “Regulation of Added Substances in the Food Supply by the Food and Drug Administration Human Foods Program,” published in theAmerican Journal of Public Health, details how a legal loophole is allowing unsafe ingredients in US foods. Here is the summary of the findings provided by New York University, where the first author is an associate professor.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with overseeing the safety of the US food supply, setting requirements for nutrition labeling, working with companies on food recalls, and responding to outbreaks of foodborne illness. But when it comes to additives already in our food and the safety of certain ingredients, the FDA has taken a hands-off approach.

The current FDA process allows the food industry to regulate itself when it comes to thousands of added ingredients—by determining for itself which ingredients should be considered “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS—with companies deciding on their own whether to disclose the ingredients’ use and the underlying safety data to the FDA. As a result, many new substances have been added to our food supply without any government oversight.

“Both the FDA and the public are unaware of how many of these ingredients—which are most commonly found in ultra-processed foods—are in our food supply,” said Jennifer Pomeranz, JD, MPH, associate professor of public health policy and management at New York University School of Global Public Health and the study’s first author.

Since 1958, the FDA has been responsible for evaluating the safety of new chemicals and substances added to foods before they go to market. However, food safety laws distinguish between “food additives” and “GRAS” ingredients. While compounds considered “food additives” must be reviewed and approved by the FDA before they are used in foods, ingredients considered GRAS are exempt from these regulations.

The GRAS designation was initially established for ingredients already found in foods—for instance, vinegar and spices. But under a rule used since 1997, the FDA has allowed the food industry to independently determine which substances fall into this category, including many new substances added to foods. Rather than disclose the new use of these ingredients and the accompanying safety data for FDA review, companies can do their own research to evaluate an ingredient’s safety before going to market, without any notification or sharing of the findings. The FDA suggests—but does not require—that companies voluntarily notify the agency about the use of such substances and their findings, but in practice, many such substances have been added without notification.

In their analysis, the researchers review the history of the FDA’s and industry’s approach around adding these new compounds to foods and identify the lack of any real oversight. This includes a federal court case in 2021 upholding the FDA’s hands-off approach. “Notably, the court did not find that the FDA’s practices on GRAS ingredients support the safety of our food supply,” said Pomeranz. “The court only ruled that the FDA’s practice was not unlawful.”

“As a result of the FDA’s policy, the food industry has been free to ‘self-GRAS’ new substances they wish to add to foods, without notifying FDA or the public,” said senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, director of the Food is Medicine Institute and distinguished professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of substances added to our foods for which the true safety data are unknown to independent scientists, the government, and the public.”

According to the researchers, the FDA also lacks a formal approach and adequate resources to review those food additives and GRAS substances already on the market. After an ingredient is added to foods, if research later suggests harms, the FDA can review the new data and, if needed, take action to reduce or remove it from foods. In a rare exception, the FDA announced in March that it would be reviewing 21 chemicals found in foods, including several food ingredients—a tiny fraction of the thousands of food additives and GRAS substances used today.

Man reading food label at grocery store

An example of the 21 food additives to be reviewed is potassium bromate, a chemical added to baked goods and drinks with evidence that it may cause cancer. Potassium bromate is banned in Europe, Canada, China, and Japan. California recently passed a law to ban its use, along with three other chemicals, and similar bills have been introduced in Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania. “This is a stark example of the FDA’s regulatory gap,” said Pomeranz. “We’re seeing states starting to act to fill the regulatory void left by the FDA’s inaction over substances increasingly associated with harm.”

The FDA’s oversight of GRAS ingredients on the market is also limited. The agency rarely revokes GRAS designation (an FDA inventory only shows 15 substances that were considered GRAS and then later determined to not be), nor does the FDA review foods on an ongoing basis with GRAS ingredients that can be safe when added at low levels but not in large quantities—for instance, caffeine, salt, and sugar.

“In 1977, the FDA approved caffeine as a GRAS substance for use in sodas at a low level: 0.02%,” said Pomeranz. “But today, caffeine is added to energy drinks at levels far exceeding this, which is causing caffeine-related hospitalizations and even deaths. Given that the FDA regulates the use of GRAS substances, the agency could set limits on the amount of caffeine in energy drinks.”

“The sheer number of GRAS substances and food additives on the market, combined with the lack of knowledge about the existence of self-GRAS ingredients, insufficient resources, and documented time delays even for well-supported action, renders reliance on post-market authority flawed and unreliable to ensure a safe food supply,” said study coauthor Emily Broad Leib, JD, director of Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and founding director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic. “FDA is only starting to utilize its post-market powers to review a tiny number of ingredients in the food supply, even though evidence of harm has been present for decades.”

The authors’ analysis provides the FDA and Congress with several potential actions to better assess and oversee the safety of both GRAS substances and food additives. This could include introducing a new requirement that companies must publicly notify the FDA of the use of GRAS ingredients, and share their underlying safety data, before they are put in foods; creating a robust review process to reevaluate the safety of GRAS ingredients and food additives once they are already on the market; and clarifying the distinction between GRAS ingredients and food additives.

In order to fund this stronger oversight of the food supply, the researchers suggest that Congress could allocate additional resources to the FDA or establish a user fee program in which food companies pay for the FDA to review the safety of their ingredients before they are added to foods. “Both the FDA and Congress can do more to enable the FDA to meet its mission of ensuring a safe food supply,” said Pomeranz. The National Institutes of Health supported the research.

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Olive Oil Hunter News #183

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Late Summer Fruit Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Nectarines, Zesting-then Squeezing, Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) and Your Sleep, Preventing Falls

It’s still stone fruit season—the perfect excuse for a luscious fruit salad with a zesty dressing. My recipe is a great example of healthy eating that still tastes indulgent. Enjoying “whole” foods, meaning foods in their most natural state, is the antidote to the dangers of ultra-processed foods, which now include insomnia. Read more on this below, along with a new advisory on avoiding falls for people over 65—food for thought for anyone at risk for falling, regardless of age.

Late Summer Fruit Salad

  • Stone fruit salad Late Summer Fruit Salad

    Stone fruit—nectarines, peaches, and plums—are the stars of this juicy dessert, with figs, berries, and a sweet and citrusy dressing in supporting roles. This salad, high in antioxidants, also makes a delicious breakfast

    Ingredients

    • 2 nectarines
    • 2 plums
    • 2 peaches
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons apple balsamic vinegar 
    • 1 tablespoon local honey 
    • Zest and juice of 1 lime (see “Quick Kitchen Nugget” in newsletter)
    • 1 tablespoon chopped spearmint leaves 
    • 2 fresh figs, quartered
    • 1 cup whole blackberries, rinsed and patted dry

    Directions

    Pit and section the stone fruit, then place in a large serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and honey. Whisk in the lime juice, zest, and mint. Pour the dressing over the fruit in the bowl and toss gently. Allow the juices and the dressing to meld for 30 minutes. Just before serving, arrange the figs and blackberries on top of the stone fruit.

    Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Nectarines

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Nectarines

Nectarines and plums

Think of nectarines as peaches’ little siblings. The main difference between the two popular fruits is simply genetic—nectarines lack the fuzz gene that peaches have. Also, nectarines tend to be smaller and firmer yet sweeter and more intensely flavored and scented than peaches…a strong aroma is a key sign of ripeness. 

As with peaches, there are dozens of varieties to choose from, though they fall into the same main categories: freestone and cling free (cling-free varieties making slicing much easier) as well as white and yellow flesh. Nectarines are antioxidant rich and have twice the amount of vitamin A and slightly more vitamin C and potassium than peaches, along with vitamin E, B vitamins, calcium, fiber, and some iron. 

To ripen nectarines, store them at room temperature until they’re no longer firm. If you can’t eat them right away, you can refrigerate them, but for no more than three to five days.

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Zest, then Squeeze 

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Zest, then Squeeze 

Whenever a recipe calls for zest and juice from a piece of citrus, always zest first, optimally with a handheld Microplane grater. It’s not only easier than trying to zest halves, but you’ll also get the most zest. When juiving, if you’re using a handheld press, always position the fruit cut-side down into the empty cup to extract the most juice.

For Your Best Health: Why Those Chips Are Wrecking Your Sleep

For Your Best Health

Why Those Chips Are Wrecking Your Sleep

We know that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are the unhealthiest food choices because they have the highest levels of saturated fats, starches, and added sugars plus all sorts of additives like artificial colors and flavors; are devoid of nutrients; and have virtually no fiber. Packaged baked goods and snacks, frozen foods, and processed meats are typically considered ultra-processed. Much of the research on the detriments of UPFs has looked at the links between these foods and health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Now a new study has added sleep problems, including chronic insomnia, to that list. This can have a snowball effect on health because sleep disorders and insomnia have independently been linked with anxiety and depression as well as health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. With sleep health now a wellness goal on its own right, a better diet can be one way to get there.

Lead investigator Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD, associate professor of nutritional medicine and director of Columbia University Irving Medical Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research, said, “At a time when more and more foods are highly processed and sleep disturbances are rampant, it is important to evaluate whether diet could contribute to adverse- or good-quality sleep. Our research team had previously reported associations of healthy dietary patterns, like the Mediterranean diet, with a reduced risk of insomnia and poor sleep quality (both cross-sectionally and longitudinally), and high-carbohydrate diets with an elevated risk of insomnia.”

Sleepy woman holding pillow and yawning

For this cross-sectional study, Dr. St-Onge and some of her colleagues included 38,570 French participants with a mean age of 50 who completed a sleep questionnaire and at least two 24-hour dietary records. An analysis revealed a statistically significant association between ultra-processed food intake and chronic insomnia, independent of participants’ sociodemographic, lifestyle, diet quality, and mental health status. Overall, the study participants got 16 percent of their daily energy from UPFs. Nearly 20 percent of participants reported symptoms of chronic insomnia, and this group tended to eat more ultra-processed foods.

There are various reasons for the diet-sleep link. First, people who eat more saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and free or added sugars tend to eat less fruit, vegetables, legumes, and seafood, which are all sources of sleep-promoting compounds, the researchers pointed out. Also, ultra-processed foods are highly inflammatory and can negatively affect the gut microbiome—and the gut microbiome is known to play a role in the quality of your shuteye. 

Fitness Flash: Preventing Falls

Fitness Flash

Preventing Falls

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a volunteer group of experts in different fields from across the country, recently issued its guidance regarding preventing falls in people over age 65. According to the CDC, over 14 million Americans, or one in four adults ages 65 and older, report falling each year, and for about 37 percent, doing so resulted in an injury that required medical treatment or restricted their activity for at least one day.

After its review of existing research, the USPSTF concluded with moderate certainty that exercise interventions provide a moderate net benefit and that multifactorial interventions, such as three-dimensional exercises (movement through all three spatial planes or dimensions: forward and back, side to side, and up and down), provide a small net benefit in preventing falls and fall-related morbidity in older adults at increased risk for falls. Effective exercise interventions include supervised individual physical therapy and group exercise classes. 

While the USPSTF stated that it’s difficult to identify specific components of exercise that are particularly effective, the most commonly studied exercise components were gait, balance, and functional training, followed by strength and resistance training, flexibility, and endurance training. A smaller number of trials included three-dimensional exercise, such as group dance or tai chi classes. The most common frequency and duration for exercise interventions was two to three sessions per week for 12 months, although the duration of the studies ranged from two to 30 months. 

The USPSTF also recommended that a program be tailored to each individual based on the findings of a health and risk factor assessment that might include balance, gait, vision, postural blood pressure, medication, environment, cognition, and psychological health. This could be done by your doctor or another expert familiar with your health history so that he or she can factor in any chronic medical conditions, medications taken, and alcohol use as well whether you had a prior fall, all of which could affect your fall risk. 

The USPSTF statement included a reminder about the multiple health benefits associated with physical activity that go beyond fall prevention: a lower risk of cardiovascular disease events, cardiovascular disease mortality, and all-cause mortality, as well as lower blood pressure, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and lower risk of high cholesterol. It added: “The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults do at least 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity—or 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity—aerobic physical activity, as well as muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups, twice a week or more.” 

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Olive Oil Hunter News #182

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Seafood and Avocado Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Dill and Herb Scissors, Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Anxiety? And Knee Arthritis, Exercise, and Your Subconscious

Are you usually underwhelmed when you buy premade seafood salad? Making your own is not only tastier but also less expensive. And prepared with healthful ingredients, like extra virgin olive oil and avocado instead of questionable fillers, it’s also good for you. The distinction between healthy and unhealthy fats is made clear in the first study that I’m sharing—you’ll see why a diet of saturated fat is linked to anxiety. Turning to fitness, many people with knee arthritis don’t heed their doctor’s advice to exercise…here are the results of a study that found they may have a subconscious resistance to activity.

Seafood and Avocado Salad

  • Seafood Avocado Salad Seafood and Avocado Salad

    Pick your own culinary adventure with the seafood you choose for this dish—succulent lobster meat, crabmeat, shrimp, calamari rings, or any combination. I love to serve the seafood in avocado halves, but if you prefer a handheld meal, add avocado cubes to the mix and sandwich it between ciabatta slices that have been lightly toasted or grilled and drizzled with olive oil.

    Ingredients

    • 1 pound cooked shellfish
    • 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
    • 1 cucumber, diced
    • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste
    • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
    • Coarse sea salt to taste
    • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
    • 3 ripe avocados, halved and pitted 

    Directions

    In a large bowl, mix the shellfish, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, olive oil, vinegar, and dill. Taste and season as desired with salt and pepper. Divide the salad among the avocado halves, mounding it high (a large ice cream scoop works well).

    Yields 6 servings 

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Dill

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Dill

Fresh dill is a delicate yet delicious addition to many types of salads, including various versions of potato salad, and can be used for enhancing eggs, dishes with smoked or fresh salmon, and dressings. Because of its feathery shoots, dill makes a showy garnish. It’s best used in cold dishes; when using it during cooking, add it at the very last minute or right after you’ve removed the food from the heat. 

It’s easy to grow dill in your herb garden (it often reseeds itself) or plant it in a window box so you can regularly reach for it. If you buy a bunch from the store or farmers’ market, place the stems in a tall glass of water, cover the tops, and refrigerate to increase shelf life. As with other fresh herbs, it can be puréed with extra virgin olive oil and frozen in an ice cube tray for future use (bag the cubes as soon as they become solid). Dill is sold dried as dill weed, with a very mild flavor that actually improves when heated. 

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Herb Scissors

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Herb Scissors

Herb scissors

This nifty gadget makes mincing herbs nearly effortless. Rather than a single blade, herb scissors have multiple blades—up to 5—that chop your herbs for you as you snip. There are also single blade herb shears for cutting larger-leaf herbs and herb strippers that strip herbs from their stems.  

For Your Best Health: Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Anxiety?

For Your Best Health

Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Anxiety?

When stressed out, many of us turn to junk food for solace. But new University of Colorado Boulder research suggests this strategy may backfire. The study found that, in rats, a high-fat diet disrupts gut bacteria, alters behavior and, through the complex pathway that connects the gut to the brain, influences brain chemicals in ways that fuel anxiety. It’s important to note that the researchers are not talking about healthy fats like those found in fish, olive oil, nuts, and seeds—these are considered anti-inflammatory and good for the brain.

“Everyone knows that [high-fat junk foods] are not healthy foods, but we tend to think about them strictly in terms of a little weight gain,” said lead author Christopher Lowry, PhD, a professor of integrative physiology at CU Boulder. “If you understand that they also impact your brain in a way that can promote anxiety, that makes the stakes even higher.”

Dr. Lowry’s team divided adolescent rats into two groups: Half got a standard diet of about 11% fat for nine weeks while the others got a high-fat diet of 45% fat, consisting mostly of saturated fat from animal products. (The typical American diet is about 36% fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Throughout the study, the researchers collected fecal samples and assessed the animals’ microbiome, or gut bacteria. After nine weeks, the animals underwent behavioral tests.

Importantly, the researchers stressed that not all fats are bad, and that healthy fats like those found in fish, olive oil, nuts, and seeds can be anti-inflammatory and good for the brain.

When compared to the control group, the group eating a high-fat diet, not surprisingly, gained weight. But the animals also showed significantly lower diversity of gut bacteria. Generally speaking, more bacterial diversity is associated with better health, Dr. Lowry explained. These mice hosted far more of a category of bacteria called firmicutes and less of a category called bacteroidetes. A higher firmicutes-to-bacteroidetes ratio has been associated with the typical industrialized diet and obesity.

The high-fat diet group also showed higher expression of three genes—tph2, htr1a, and slc6a4—involved in the production and signaling of the neurotransmitter serotonin, particularly in a region of the brainstem called cDRD and associated with stress and anxiety.

While serotonin is often billed as a feel-good brain chemical, Dr. Lowry pointed out that certain subsets of serotonin neurons can, when activated, prompt anxiety-like responses in animals. In fact, heightened expression of tph2, or tryptophan hydroxylase, in the cDRD has been linked to mood disorders and suicide risk in people.

“To think that just a high-fat diet could alter expression of these genes in the brain is extraordinary,” said Dr. Lowry. “The high-fat group essentially had the molecular signature of a high anxiety state in their brain.” He suspects that an unhealthy microbiome compromises the gut lining, enabling bacteria to slip into the body’s circulation and communicate with the brain via the vagus nerve, an important pathway from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain.

“If you think about human evolution, it makes sense,” Dr. Lowry explained. “We are hardwired to really notice things that make us sick so we can avoid those things in the future.” 

His advice: Eat as many different kinds of fruits and vegetables as possible, add fermented foods to your diet to support a healthy microbiome, and lay off the pizza and fries. Also, if you do have a hamburger, add a slice of avocado. Some research shows that good fats can counteract some of the effects of bad fats.

Fitness Flash: Knee Arthritis, Exercise, and Your Subconscious

Fitness Flash

Knee Arthritis, Exercise, and Your Subconscious

Yoga poses for knee exercise

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of pain and joint stiffness. And while physical activity is known to ease symptoms, only one in 10 people regularly exercises. Understanding what contributes to this inactivity is the focus of a study from the University of South Australia (UniSA) in Adelaide, where researchers found that people with knee OA unconsciously believe that activity may be dangerous to their condition, despite medical advice telling them otherwise.

The study found that of those surveyed, 69% of people with knee pain had stronger implicit (or unconscious) beliefs that exercise was dangerous than did the average person without pain. This highlights not only the conflicted nature of pain and exercise but also the fact that what people say and what people think, deep down, may be entirely different things.

Lead researcher and UniSA PhD candidate Brian Pulling said the research provides valuable insights for helping people with knee arthritis. “Research shows that physical activity is good for people with knee OA, but most people with this condition do not move enough to support joint or general health,” Pulling said. “To understand why people with OA might not be active, research studies typically use questionnaires to assess fear of moving. But unfortunately, questionnaires are limited—what we feel deep down (and how our system naturally reacts to something that is threatening) may be different than what we report. And we still know that many people are avoiding exercise, so we wanted to know why.”

To do so, the researchers developed a tool called the Implicit Association Test that can detect and evaluate people’s implicit beliefs about exercise, meaning whether they unconsciously think activity is dangerous for their condition. The test presents a series of words and images which a participant must quickly associate with being either safe or dangerous. It intentionally promotes instant responses to avoid deliberation and other influencing factors (such as responding how they think they should respond).

“We found that even among those who said they were not fearful about exercise, they held unconscious beliefs that movement was dangerous,” Pulling said. “Our research shows that people have complicated beliefs about exercise, and that they sometimes say one thing if asked directly yet hold a completely different implicit belief. This research suggests that to fully understand how someone feels about an activity, we must go beyond just asking directly, because their implicit beliefs can sometimes be a better predictor of actual behavior than what people report. That’s where our tool is useful.”

The tool has the potential to identify a group of people who may have challenges to increasing their activity levels and undertaking exercise. Added Tasha Stanton, PhD, Associate Professor in clinical pain neuroscience and co-Director and Osteoarthritis Research Theme Lead at IIMPACT in Health at UniSA, “Having access to more accurate and insightful information will help health professionals better support their patients to engage with activity and exercise. It may also open opportunities for pain science education, exposure-based therapy, or cognitive functional therapy…things that would not usually be considered for someone who said that they were not scared to exercise.” 

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Olive Oil Hunter News #181

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Orange-Raspberry Muffins Recipe, Spotlight on Almond Flour, Juicing Fruit, The Benefits of Limiting Processed and Red Meats, and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Packaged gluten-free baked goods are often tasteless, not to mention filled with additives and other unhealthy ingredients. In just a few minutes, you can bake your own delicious muffins that are so tasty that they won’t provoke eye rolls from gluten lovers. While gluten should be avoided only by those with a sensitivity or celiac disease, a recent study found that everyone can benefit from eating fewer processed and red meats—the health benefits are astounding. Then read about a newly discovered benefit of high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

Orange-Raspberry Muffins

  • Orange raspberry muffins Orange-Raspberry Muffins

    The combination of olive oil and almond flour creates a tender crumb that rivals any flour-based batter and a muffin that’s infinitely more nutritious. I like to use “tulip-shaped” cupcake liners because you can fill them right up to the level of your baking tin for very tall muffins. Also, topping the batter with berries after filling the liners helps keep the fruit from falling to the bottom. 

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups almond flour
    • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1/2 cup sugar, divided use 
    • Freshly grated zest of 1 large orange
    • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
    • 6 eggs, separated
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla paste
    • 1 cup raspberries

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place tulip-shaped cupcake liners in the cups of a 12-muffin tin; set aside.

    Step 2

    In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 1/4 cup sugar, orange zest and juice, egg yolks, and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture.

    Step 3

    In a very large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites on a low speed to break them up, about a minute. Once they start to foam, increase the speed to high and add the remaining sugar. Whip until the whites form stiff peaks, then use a large spatula to gently fold them into the almond flour mixture in 3 or 4 batches, rotating your mixing bowl as you move your spatula from the center out to the sides. Don’t overmix to avoid deflating the batter—a few streaks of whites are OK.

    Step 4

    Use a large ice cream scoop to fill the paper liners up to the level of your baking tin. Top with equal amounts of berries. Bake the muffins for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tip of a sharp knife comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Yields 12 muffins

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Almond Flour

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Almond Flour

Almond flour, like other nut flours, is wonderful for baking, whether you’re making muffins, a cake like a dacquoise or torte, cookies, or even pie shells. You can grind your own from fresh almonds or buy it by the bag. Some brands are made of blanched almonds, but those made with the almond skins offer even more nutrients. Like almonds themselves, almond flour is naturally rich in vitamin E and other antioxidants, manganese, and magnesium, with a healthy dose of protein and fiber. To keep it fresh, store it in the fridge or freezer.

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Juicer or Hand Squeezer?

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Juicer or Hand Squeezer?

Woman juicing grapefruit

When a recipe calls for any type of citrus juice, fresh-squeezed is a must. The question then becomes whether to use a hand press or an electric citrus juicer. The answer depends on how much juice you’ll be making. 

For a few tablespoons up to a cup, a metal hand press (look for one with ergonomic handles) will work well with minimal strain on your hands—it does take effort to squeeze its handles together, and you might need different sizes for juicing limes, lemons, and oranges effectively. For juicing large quantities, it pays to have an electric juicer for ease and speed; this countertop appliance can handle all sizes of citrus and can be stored in a cabinet when not needed. There are also large, commercial-grade manual juicers that sit on a flat surface and that you operate by pushing down on a lever to extract the juice, but these tend to take up a lot of counter space.  

For Your Best Health: The Benefits of Limiting Processed and Red Meats

For Your Best Health

The Benefits of Limiting Processed and Red Meats

While many studies have identified links between frequent consumption of processed meat and chronic disease, few have evaluated the impact on multiple health outcomes. Some previous research also suggested that unprocessed red meat may contribute to chronic disease risk, but evidence has been limited.

Now, a team from the University of Edinburgh’s Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems, together with researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has used data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national health survey to create a simulated, representative sample of the US adult population—called a microsimulation—in order to estimate how changes in meat consumption affect adults’ risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and death. The effects were evaluated in the overall population and separately based on age, sex, household income, and ethnicity.

This microsimulation is the first to estimate the effects of reducing processed meat and unprocessed red meat consumption, from between 5 percent and 100 percent, on multiple health outcomes in the US. They found that cutting processed meat intake by 30 percent (the equivalent of around 10 slices of bacon a week) would prevent more than 350,000 cases of diabetes and lead to 92,500 fewer cardiovascular disease cases and 53,300 fewer colorectal cancer cases over a decade.

The researchers also analyzed the impacts of reducing unprocessed red meat intake alone and cutting consumption of both processed meat and unprocessed red meat. Cutting unprocessed red meat intake alone by 30 percent, which would mean eating around one less quarter-pound beef burger a week, resulted in more than 732,000 fewer diabetes cases, 291,500 fewer cardiovascular disease cases, and 32,200 fewer colorectal cancer cases. Reducing consumption of both by 30 percent resulted in 1,073,400 fewer diabetes cases, 382,400 fewer cardiovascular disease cases, and 84,400 fewer colorectal cancer cases.

The finding that more disease cases were prevented by reducing unprocessed red meat than by reducing processed meat is partly due to the average daily intake of unprocessed red meat being higher than that of processed meat, at 47 grams a day versus 29 grams a day, respectively. As less is known about the effect of eating unprocessed red meat on chronic disease risk, the team said these estimates should be interpreted with caution and that more research is needed.

Lindsay Jaacks, PhD, professor, Personal Chair of Global Health and Nutrition at the University of Edinburgh, and one of the authors of the study, said, “Cutting consumption of meat has been recommended by national and international organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including by the Climate Change Committee here in the UK and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Our research finds that these changes in diets could also have significant health benefits in the US, and so this is a clear win-win for people and planet.”

The study, “Estimated effects of reductions in processed meat consumption and unprocessed red meat consumption on occurrences of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and mortality in the USA: a microsimulation study,” was published in TheLancet Planetary Healthand was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Fitness Flash: An Exercise Brain Boost That Can Last for Years

Fitness Flash

An Exercise Brain Boost That Can Last for Years

Senior woman running on treadmill

A longitudinal study led by Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett, PhD, and Daniel Blackmore, PhD, of the University of Queensland’s Queensland Brain Institute found that high-intensity interval exercise improves brain function in healthy older adults for up to five years. The research was published inAging and Disease.

Dr. Bartlett said it is the first controlled study of its kind to show that exercise can not only delay cognitive decline but also boost cognition in healthy older adults. “Six months of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is enough to flick the switch,” Dr. Bartlett said. “In earlier preclinical work, we discovered exercise can activate stem cells and increase the production of neurons in the hippocampus, improving cognition. In this study, a large cohort of healthy 65- to 85-year-old volunteers joined a six-month exercise program, did biomarker and cognition testing, and had high-resolution brain scans.”

During the study, the researchers assessed the impact of three exercise intensities: low—predominantly motor function, balance, and stretching; medium—brisk walking on a treadmill; and high—four cycles of running on a treadmill at near maximum exertion. Participants exercised three times a week, for between 36 and 45 minutes per session including warmup and cooldown, and under supervision for 6 months. 

Dr. Blackmore said only the high-intensity interval exercise led to cognitive improvement that was retained for up to five years. “On high-resolution MRI scans of that group, we saw structural and connectivity changes in the hippocampus, the area responsible for learning and memory,” he said. “We also found blood biomarkers that changed in correlation to improvements in cognition. Biomarkers can be useful in predicting the effectiveness of the exercise a person is doing.”

Aging is one of the biggest risks for dementia, a condition that affects almost half a million Australians. “If we can change the trajectory of aging and keep people cognitively healthier for longer with a simple intervention like exercise, we can potentially save our community from the enormous personal, economic, and social costs associated with dementia,” Dr. Bartlett said.

With one out of three people aged 85 likely to develop dementia, Dr. Blackmore said, the impact of the research is far-reaching. “Our finding can inform exercise guidelines for older people and further research could assess different types of exercise that could be incorporated. We are now looking at the genetic factors that may regulate a person’s response to exercise to see if we can establish who will and who will not respond to this intervention. The use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for exercise also needs further research,” he added. 

Since HIIT has benefits for people of any age, from heart health to a metabolism boost, talk to your doctor or personal trainer about adding it to your exercise regimen.

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