Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club

Half a tablespoon of olive oil a day significantly lowered the risk of dementia-related death

Reference: Tessier A-J, Cortese M, Yuan C, et al. Consumption of olive oil and dietary quality and risk of dementia-related death. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(5):e2410021. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.10021.

A recently published analysis of two large, long-term studies found that consuming half a tablespoon or more of olive oil per day lowered the risk of dying of dementia by up to 34% in both women and men. The protective effect of olive oil consumption was even greater in women.

More than 92,000 participants from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) were included in this analysis. The NHS started in 1976 and enrolled 121,700 female registered nurses (ages 30–55). The HPFS began in 1986 as a similar study in men, enrolling 51,525 male healthcare professionals (ages 40–75).

Study participants responded every other year to detailed food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) about their consumption of specific foods. Questions about olive oil were added in 1990. Total olive oil intake was determined by three responses: olive oil used for salad dressings, olive oil added to food or bread, and olive oil used for baking or frying at home.

Olive oil intake frequency was categorized as follows:

• Never, or less than once per month
• Less than 4.5 grams (about one teaspoon) per day
• Between 4.5 and 7 grams per day
• More than 7 grams (about half a tablespoon) per day

About two-thirds of the study participants (65.6%) were women, about a third (34.4%) were men, and the average age at the start of the study was 56 years. Each participant’s FFQs from 1990 to 2014 (or for as long as the participant remained in the study) were totaled and averaged. Average olive oil intake was 1.3 grams per day in both studies.

Participants in the highest olive oil intake group—half a tablespoon or more of olive oil per day— reduced their risk of dying of dementia by 28% to 34%, compared to study participants who never or very rarely consumed olive oil. These results were regardless of other dietary habits and factored in socio-demographic and lifestyle differences.

Deaths due to dementia were confirmed by physician’s review of medical records, autopsy reports, or death certificates of study participants.

It has been proposed that consuming olive oil may lower the risk of dementia-related death by improving blood vessel health, yet the results of this analysis were not impacted by hypertension or high cholesterol in participants.

Limitations of this analysis include its predominantly non-Hispanic white population of healthcare professionals, which reduces the ability to generalize these results across more diverse populations. Also, the FFQs did not dis-tinguish among types of olive oil, which differ in their amounts of polyphenols and other bioactive compounds.

Olive Oil Hunter News #170

Horiatiki Salad Recipe and The MIND Diet for Brain Health: More Benefits of Olive Oil

I’m a huge fan of both Greek and Middle Eastern salads, the ingredients of which are not only delicious but also mainstays of the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet, a way of eating designed for brain health. It’s an offshoot of the super-healthy Mediterranean diet and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Why the distinction? Because the latest research on the MIND diet shows it can slow aging as well as reduce dementia risk. Add this to the list of the benefits of olive oil—it’s one of the super foods that MIND suggests including every day.

Horiatiki: The Sequel!

  • Skillet torta Skillet Torta

    This is a fun breakfast or lunch dish that can be made fresh…or it’s a great way to add zest to leftover vegetables. It has the cheesy goodness of a quiche but without a heavy crust. I’m giving it a Spanish flair with Manchego, a sheep’s milk cheese, but you can use whatever cheese you like, even a mix of cheeses if you have a little bit of this and a little bit of that in the fridge.

    Ingredients

    • 5 large eggs  
    • 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese 
    • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
    • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 
    • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
    • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling
    • 4 ounces red onion, finely diced
    • 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
    • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced, or 1 dried chipotle, soaked and diced
    • One 12-inch round corn, whole wheat, or grain-free tortilla 
    • Optional toppings: sour cream, chopped cilantro, salsa, avocado slices

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 375°F. Whisk the eggs, cheese, cilantro, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl; set aside.

    Step 2

    Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, the red onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño, and sauté until tender. Transfer the vegetables to a separate bowl.

    Step 3

    Use tongs to place the tortilla in the skillet and press the edges against the sides of the pan. Add back the vegetables and then pour in the egg mixture. Bake until firm, about 20 minutes. 

    Step 4

    Keeping an oven mitt on the handle of the hot skillet, run a spatula around the edge of the torta and then cut it into quarters. Plate each serving and top with your choice of optional garnishes and a drizzle of olive oil.

    Yields 4 servings

  • Muffaletta-style olive salad Olive Oil Hunter News #215

    Muffaletta-Style Olive Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Anchovies, Roasting Bell Peppers, Napping: A Sleep-Cycle Foe and Walk This Way

    One of the classic New Orleans specialties, muffaletta, is a delectable mix of meats and cheeses served on crusty bread. But its uniqueness comes from the olive salad that fills the hollowed-out top half of the loaf. I always make more than I need because it’s such a tasty condiment, as well as a great topping for grilled bread slices, a wonderful dressing for green salads, and a “sauce” for grilled fish, chicken, and other proteins. 

    Most people don’t realize that good sleep is one of the building blocks of health and fitness or that an innocent nap can be a roadblock to restorative ZZZs. Even more important, needing to nap often can be a sign of a health condition. Something else important for wellness is good posture—remember Mom always telling you to stand up straight? Scientists have developed special shoe sensors that may soon help you follow her directive more easily! 

    Muffaletta-Style Olive Salad

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Anchovies

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

    Anchovies

    Anchovies might be the least-appreciated fish among Americans. An essential flavoring agent for dishes such as Caesar salad and puttanesca sauce, anchovies are typically sold here jarred or canned. They’re used in many cuisines, but around the Mediterranean, grilled or breaded fresh anchovies, briny yet mild tasting, are often on the menu. 

    It’s the salt curing used to preserve anchovies that intensifies their taste—their saltiness lends depth of flavor to cooked dishes without imparting the full-throated taste of an anchovy eaten right out of the can or jar. Indeed, they quickly dissolve right into the other ingredients. Look for tins of anchovies from Italy. If they are packed in olive oil, drain them well before using.

    Quick Kitchen Nugget: Roasting Bell Peppers

    Quick Kitchen Nugget

    Roasting Bell Peppers

    Grilled bell peppers

    Whenever I’ve got my outdoor grill going, I’ll throw on two or three bell peppers, char them well, then peel, deseed, and store them in olive oil in the fridge to use for the coming week. When you need a roasted pepper without turning on the grill, the oven is the way to go. Here’s how.

    Preheat your oven to 400°F. Grab a rimmed sheet pan and line it with high-heat parchment paper (it will be marked as safe to use up to 400°F or higher). Place one or more bell peppers on their sides and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes, flip, and roast for another 20 minutes, or until the skin chars and wrinkles. Take them out of the oven and, with your oven mitts still on, fold up the parchment to make a packet that seals in the peppers. This creates steam, which will make it easy to peel off the skins. Wait 15 minutes, then unwrap the parchment and remove the skins. Transfer the peppers to a cutting board, halve them, cut out the stems, and use a spoon to remove the seeds. 

    For Your Best Health: Napping: A Sleep-Cycle Foe

    For Your Best Health

    Napping: A Sleep-Cycle Foe

    Woman napping in hammock

    According to a Pew Research Center survey, about 30% of American adults take one or more naps per week, with more than 50% of adults age 80 and older reporting that they had napped in the past day. Among every other age group in the survey, including both young people ages 18 to 29 and older people ages 70 to 79, about a third said they napped in the past 24 hours.

    But is all the snoozing good for you? Maria V. Suurna, MD, professor of clinical otolaryngology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and director of sleep surgery at UHealth, the University of Miami Health System, set the record straight on the pros and cons of napping.

    “Short naps of no more than 30 minutes during the day can help restore alertness and productivity, making you feel more awake. It’s similar to the effect of drinking a cup of coffee. There’s nothing wrong with taking a nap, but it’s important not to make it too long. It may be helpful to set an alarm for 30 minutes, especially if it’s late in the afternoon, to avoid interfering with your nighttime sleep,” said Dr. Suurna. “If you have trouble sleeping at night, it’s generally not recommended to nap during the day, as it can make it harder to fall asleep and get a full 7-9 hours of sleep at night. 

    “If you feel excessively sleepy during the day, often falling asleep during meetings or, more dangerously, while driving, it’s important to consult a sleep doctor. Needing to take multiple naps throughout the day could be a sign of sleep problems such as sleep apnea, hypersomnolence, or other sleep disorders. A medical evaluation can help identify and address any underlying issues,” she added.

    As a reminder, you may be able to boost nighttime sleep quality with these good sleep habits: 

    • Review your medications with your doctor, as some may have sedating side effects while others may act as stimulants, making it harder to stay asleep. 
    • Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
    • Avoid electronics, TV, and other screens starting at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
    • Reduce exposure to bright lights in the evening.
    • Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet.
    • Avoid alcohol and caffeine starting in the early afternoon, as they can interfere with sleep quality and contribute to insomnia.
    Fitness Flash: Walk This Way

    Fitness Flash

    Walk This Way

    A new smart insole system that monitors how people walk in real time could help improve posture and provide early warnings for conditions from plantar fasciitis to Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. Constructed using 22 small pressure sensors and fueled by small solar panels on the tops of shoes, the system offers real-time health tracking based on how a person walks, which is a biomechanical process as unique as a human fingerprint.

    This data can then be transmitted via Bluetooth to a smartphone for a quick and detailed analysis, said Jinghua Li, PhD, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at The Ohio State University. “Our bodies carry lots of useful information that we’re not even aware of,” said Dr. Li. “These statuses also change over time, so it’s our goal to use electronics to extract and decode those signals to encourage better self-healthcare checks.”

    It’s estimated that at least 7% of Americans suffer from ambulatory difficulties, often having a hard time with basic activities that include walking, running, and climbing stairs. While efforts to manufacture a wearable insole-based pressure system have risen in popularity in recent years, many previous prototypes were met with energy limitations and unstable performances. To overcome the challenges of their precursors, Dr. Li and Qi Wang, the lead author of the study and a current PhD candidate at Ohio State, sought to ensure that their wearable is durable, has a high degree of precision when collecting and analyzing data, and can provide consistent and reliable power. 

    “Our device is innovative in terms of high resolution, spatial sensing, self-powering capability, and its ability to combine with machine learning algorithms,” she said. “So, we feel like this research can go further based on the pioneering successes of this field.”

    Their system is also unique because of its use of AI. Thanks to an advanced machine learning model, the wearable can recognize eight different motion states, from static ones like sitting and standing to more dynamic movements such as running and squatting. Since the materials used for the insoles are flexible and safe, the device, much like a smartwatch, is low risk and appropriate for continuous use. For instance, after the solar cells convert sunlight to energy, that power is stored in tiny lithium batteries that don’t harm the user or affect daily activities.

    Because of the distribution of sensors from toe to heel, the researchers could see how the pressure on parts of the foot is different in activities such as walking versus running. During walking, pressure is applied sequentially from the heel to the toes, whereas during running, almost all sensors are subjected to pressure simultaneously. In addition, during walking, the pressure application time accounts for about half of the total time, while during running, it accounts for only about a quarter.

    The smart insoles could support gait analysis to detect early abnormalities associated with foot pressure-related conditions like diabetic foot ulcers, musculoskeletal disorders such as plantar fasciitis, and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

    Because the system uses machine learning to learn and classify different types of motion, it offers opportunities for personalized health management, including real-time posture correction, injury prevention, and rehabilitation monitoring. Customized fitness training may also be a future use, the researchers said. “The interface is flexible and quite thin, so even during repetitive deformation, it can remain functional,” said Dr. Li. “The combination of the software and hardware means it isn’t as limited.”

    Researchers expect the technology will likely be available commercially within the next three to five years. Next steps to advance the work will be aimed at improving the system’s gesture recognition abilities, which, according to Dr. Li, will likely be helped with further testing on more diverse populations. “We have so many variations among individuals, so demonstrating and training these fantastic capabilities on different populations is something we need to give further attention to,” she said.

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  • Muffaletta-style olive salad Muffaletta-Style Olive Salad

    This flavorful mix of peppers, olives, and onions defines the muffaletta sandwich—you can choose a mix of your favorite meats and cheeses, like capicola, prosciutto, salami, mozzarella, and provolone, but don’t leave off the olive salad! A batch will stay fresh in the fridge for about a week.

    Ingredients

    • 1 small red onion, peeled and quartered
    • 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
    • 1 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives
    • 2 cups frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
    • 8 Italian hot peppers
    • 1 large red bell pepper, roasted and seeded (see “Quick Kitchen Nugget in weekly newsletter)
    • 6 tablespoons capers, drained
    • 4 anchovy fillets or 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
    • 1 tablespoon dried oregano 
    • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/4 cup best-quality red wine vinegar

    Directions

    Step 1

    To the bowl of a large food processor add the onions, olives, and artichokes and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add in the hot peppers, bell pepper, capers, anchovies, oregano, and red pepper flakes and pulse again until finely chopped (don’t let the mixture turn into a paste).

    Step 2

    Transfer to a large bowl and fold in the olive oil and vinegar. Let sit for 30 minutes so that the flavors can meld before using or refrigerating.

    Yields about 4 cups

  • Whole roasted cauliflower with pea pesto Olive Oil Hunter News #214

    Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Pea Pesto Recipe, Spotlight on Cauliflower, Time-restricted Eating and Exercise, plus Exercise to Fight Mental Fatigue

    Perfect for spring, this week’s recipe brings together the goodness of superfood cauliflower and the freshness of pea pesto. It’s a side dish satisfying enough for a main course. Next, I’m sharing two studies with the value of exercise at their core—why exercise is a smart adjunct to time-restricted eating and how it can help you feel less mentally exhausted by challenging tasks.

    Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Pea Pesto

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: The Cauliflower Rainbow

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

    The Cauliflower Rainbow

    As delicious and nutritious as regular cauliflower is, with high marks for vitamins C and K, the brightly hued versions available at farmer’s markets and even some grocery stores offer even more.

    Surprisingly, cauliflower, an ancient vegetable, was originally naturally pigmented, according to 

    the Iowa State University Extension. Over time, white cauliflower evolved thanks to selective breeding and became the norm. (White cauliflower stays creamy white if not exposed to direct sunlight.) So the return to cauliflower of different hues, while again a result of selective breeding, is actually cauliflower getting back to its roots.

    With a difference in color comes a (slight) difference in nutrients. Purple cauliflower gets its shade from anthocyanin, the naturally occurring phytochemical that also gives bright red, blue, or purple fruits and vegetables their rich colors. By contrast, orange cauliflower gets its hue from the same carotenoids that are in orange and yellow fruits and vegetables. Green cauliflower, a hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower, has beta carotene, though not as much as pure broccoli.

    All shades of cauliflower can be eaten raw or cooked. 

    Quick Kitchen Nugget: Cauliflower Prep 

    Quick Kitchen Nugget

    Cauliflower Prep 

    This vegetable needs only minimal prep. Roasting a whole head just involves removing the outer leaves and trimming the core flush with the base of the head. It can be drizzled with any marinade you like and then sliced into wedges or steaks after cooking. 

    You can cut a raw head into steaks if your prep calls for it, but keep the core intact for slicing, then use a sharp paring knife to cut out the core from each steak—you’ll lose fewer florets this way.

    If you want to make florets for a dish, turn the cauliflower on its head and use a paring knife to cut pieces away from the stem, rotating the head as you go. Halve or quarter any large florets as needed.

    Rainbow cauliflower
    For Your Best Health: A New Way to Look at Fiber

    For Your Best Health

    Time-restricted Eating and Exercise 

    Time-restricted eating—eating within a set number of hours—is an approach that many use to try to lose weight. One concern when dieting is how to lose fat while protecting muscle. A study from the University of Mississippi, published in the International Journal of Obesity, showed that when healthy adults paired an eight-hour eating window with regular exercise for at least four weeks, they lost more fat without sacrificing lean muscle compared to exercise alone. That lean mass preservation is key, Said Nadeeja Wijayatunga, MD, PhD, RDN, assistant professor of nutrition and hospitality management. 

    Dr. Wijayatunga and tactical dietitian Michael Hays, PhD, RD, CSCS, began their study after seeing the dramatic rise in time-restricted eating. Together, they conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies on time-restricted eating with exercise from the past decade. “People like time-restricted eating because they feel it’s easier to adhere to…they don’t have to think too much,” said Dr. Wijayatunga. “It’s all about time, not calorie-counting or watching out for certain foods.”

    According to the 2023 International Food and Health Survey, 12% of Americans have tried time-restricted eating, but the science surrounding it is still developing, Dr. Hays said. “For some people, this may be a good technique to help with body composition goals. It’s just another tool, but more studies need to come out to really understand how this works in humans.”

    While the difference between those who exercised while following a time-restricted diet and those who used exercise alone was slight, the individuals in the two groups in the studies were very healthy. “They were already physically fit and already had exercise routines. When you already have athletic, lean people and you decrease their body fat percentage, that’s significant,” explained Dr. Hays.

    Time-restricted eating has been criticized for possibly leading to a loss of lean mass—all the muscles, organs, and other tissues that make up the human body. “We need healthy muscles,” Dr. Wijayatunga said. “Muscles are really important for the body and for your metabolism. If we lose muscle, it may impact our metabolic systems, and it just decreases mobility overall.”

    “That’s why you want to couple diet with exercise,” Dr. Hays adds. “When you’re losing weight, you never want to lose lean tissue. You want to lose fat.”

    While the results are promising, Dr. Wijayatunga warned that more research is needed to confirm the findings and to learn how this would impact people who are not in shape and/or not exercising regularly. “What I’d recommend is implementing healthy habits in a way that you, as an individual, can maintain with guidance from a healthcare professional.”

    Senior couple exercising outdoors
    Fitness Flash: Exercise to Fight Mental Fatigue

    Fitness Flash

    Exercise to Fight Mental Fatigue

    Ever feel mentally fatigued after a challenging task? It can happen later in life, even if you’re retired. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK and the University of Extremadura in Spain have found that older people who exercise regularly are more able to fight the impacts of mental fatigue. Their study, published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, looked at whether age increased and regular exercise decreased the impact of mental fatigue on a series of cognitive and physical performance tests.

    In the first study, sedentary men ages 65 to 79 performed worse in tests than those 52 to 64, and these impairments were greater when they were tested in a state of mental fatigue. A second study with retired men and women ages 66 to 72 found that performance when mentally rested or fatigued was better in the physically active older adults than in their sedentary peers.

    Chris Ring, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the study, said, “This study shows how important physical activity is for adults as they get older and in general for avoiding the worst impacts of mental fatigue on cognitive and physical performance. This research from our ongoing international collaborative venture confirms that regular physical activity has a host of benefits, with increased physical fitness associated with improved cognition, increased exercise capacity, and greater mental fatigue resilience. For older adults in particular, regular exercise represents a simple but effective means to stave off the effects of age in a host of areas, including avoiding the negative effects of feeling mental fatigued after a particularly taxing task.”

    Dr. Ring suggested that the following three active steps can be taken by older adults wishing to perform better in demanding situations:

    • First, increase your level of regular physical activity.
    • Second, warm up using a combination of cognitive and physical tasks to better prepare for an upcoming physical performance, especially when feeling mentally fatigued.
    • Third, train using a combination of cognitive and physical tasks, a method called Brain Endurance Training, or BET, to improve mental fatigue resilience and enhance physical performance.
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  • Whole roasted cauliflower with pea pesto Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Pea Pesto

    This dish gets a double dose of flavor from the cheesy crust on the cauliflower and the pesto sauce. 

    Ingredients

    For the cauliflower:

    • 1 head cauliflower, about 2 pounds
    • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling
    • 2 garlic cloves 
    • 1/4 cup finely minced fresh herbs or 1 teaspoon dried herb mix
    • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    • 1/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

    For the pea pesto: 

    • 10 fresh basil leaves
    • 4 ounces shelled green peas
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
    • 1-1/2 ounces shelled walnuts
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/4 cup cold water
    • Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 400°F. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven or baking dish large enough to hold the cauliflower; set aside.

    Step 2

    Peel off the outer leaves of the cauliflower and trim the core just enough for the cauliflower to sit flat. 

    Step 3

    Place the remaining olive oil in a small bowl and use a microplane grater to grate the garlic cloves into it. Add the herbs, salt, and pepper and whisk well. Brush the mixture over the cauliflower, then press on the cheese. Cover the Dutch oven or baking dish and roast for 40 minutes. Carefully uncover and roast for another 15 minutes to lightly brown the crust.

    Step 4

    While the cauliflower is roasting,make the pea pesto: Place the basil, peas, garlic, cheese, and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until very finely minced. With the machine running, add the olive oil and process until smooth. Add the water and pulse a few times. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. 

    Step 5

    To serve, cut the cauliflower into wedges, plate, and drizzle with the pea pesto and a few drops of olive oil.

    Yields 4 servings as a main, 6 as a side dish

  • Poached salmon with leek sauce Olive Oil Hunter News #213

    Poached Salmon with Leek Sauce Recipe, Spotlight on Poaching Liquid and Skinning Fish, A New Way to Look at Fiber, Plus “Weekend Warrior” Benefits

    As summer approaches, our tastebuds favor lighter dishes that are still big on flavor. Poaching is a minimalist cooking technique that’s fast and virtually foolproof! Perfect for salmon, it’s also great for chicken, especially when making chicken salad. The health news in this edition touches on two interesting topics: how scientists are working to classify various types of dietary fiber in different foods so that we can better gain fiber benefits and how being a weekend warrior when it comes to exercise will still help you get the fitness benefits of daily workouts. 

    Poached Salmon with Leek Sauce 

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Poaching Liquid

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

    Poaching Liquid

    Poaching is a simple cooking technique. The food is submerged in liquid and cooked at a low simmer. Though most of the liquid is water, enhancing it with other ingredients will impart great flavor. Choose aromatics such as vegetables (carrots, onions, and celery, for example), fresh herbs, and/or lemon slices. You can also use a cup or two of wine or broth. 

    Quick Kitchen Nugget: Skinning Fish

    Quick Kitchen Nugget

    Skinning Fish

    If you have excellent knife skills, you might find it easy to skin fish when raw. But leaving the skin on for cooking adds to the taste of the finished dish, plus it’s easy to simply peel off the skin after the fish is cooked and still warm. Invert your fillet onto a flat plate or cutting board and use your hand to gently pull off and discard the skin. 

    Fiber- and protein-rich foods including salmon with skin on
    For Your Best Health: A New Way to Look at Fiber

    For Your Best Health

    A New Way to Look at Fiber

    Australian food scientists have reclassified dietary fiber beyond just soluble and insoluble to better guide nutritional decisions and drive targeted health food products. Dietary fiber in fruit, vegetables, beans and other legumes, and whole grains is one of the most important food components for human health. It helps digestion, weight management, blood sugar control, heart health, cancer prevention, and more. However, according to food scientist and professor Raj Eri, PhD, of RMIT University in Bundoora West, Australia, consumer advice on how best to use it for these various benefits is sorely lacking.

    “Quite like how different medicines target different conditions, so too do different types of fiber,” he said. “For example, apples and bananas are both rich in dietary fiber, but the fiber in each works very differently. Our research is helping to understand which type of fiber we should eat to help address certain ailments.”

    In their study, published in Food Research International, the RMIT University team proposed a more nuanced fiber classification based on five key features: backbone structure, water-holding capacity, structural charge, fiber matrix, and fermentation rate. Study lead author and RMIT PhD candidate Christo Opperman said that by starting with the key active features of fiber, this “bottom-up approach” more accurately described each fiber’s health impacts.

    “For example, suppose you want to promote colonic health. In that case, you identify a fiber’s properties as defined by the bottom-up approachwhich align with your desired outcome—in this case, fermentation rate,” Opperman said. “Applying this framework can assure consumers, dietitians, clinicians, and food technologists that they are receiving their desired health effect, which previously was a vague guessing game.”

    Opperman said the RMIT team has now taken 20 different types of fiber and studied how they interact specifically with the gut’s microbiome. “Until now, these types of specific interactions have been understudied, but with this framework as a beginning, we are on the verge of a much more helpful and detailed understanding,” he said.

    Dr. Eri said there was already strong interest among both practitioners and consumers on how to better integrate fiber into diets. “In the countries surveyed, including Europe and the US, every single population had a deficiency of fiber,” he noted. “Considering fiber is one of the most important nutrients, this is extremely worrying.” While recommended dietary fiber intake is 28 to 42 grams per day, Americans on average get only 12 to 14 grams per day and Europeans only 18 to 24 grams per day.

    The current classification of dietary fiber has it grouped into soluble and insoluble fiber, which is based on whether it dissolves in water. Insoluble fiber is seldom fermented in the large intestine and helps keep us regular. Soluble fiber is more readily fermented and can reduce cholesterol, glucose absorption, and food cravings. But it’s not always so straightforward. For example, insoluble fiber can often also rapidly ferment and reduce glucose absorption.

    “Despite our evolving understanding of how central different types of fiber are to nurturing a healthy gut biome, our dietary fiber classifications remain simplistic between broad categories of soluble and insoluble types,” Dr. Eri said. “This binary classification insufficiently captures the diverse structures and complex mechanisms through which dietary fiber influences human physiology. Our framework is an essential step in addressing this gap.” The researchers are now planning to investigate how a specific type of fiber (based on their new classification) modulates the microbiota and how to utilize such knowledge for specific health applications.

    Fitness Flash: “Weekend Warrior” Benefits 

    Fitness Flash

    “Weekend Warrior” Benefits 

    Being physically active for one to two days a week is often called being a “weekend warrior” because workouts are done on Saturdays and Sundays. This approach may provide comparable health and life-prolonging benefits to smaller doses of daily physical activity if the physical effort is moderate to vigorous and totals 150 minutes a week, in line with recommended guidelines for weekly physical activity, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. To achieve health benefits, both the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association recommend that throughout each week adults engage in 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.

    “You don’t need to exercise every day to stay healthy. As long as you get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week—whether packed into one to two days or spread out—you can significantly reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or other causes,” said study corresponding author Zhi-Hao Li, PhD, an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China.

    “This message is encouraging news for busy people who struggle to fit in daily workouts but can manage a concentrated burst of activity on weekends or over a couple of days,” Dr. Li said. “The research provides reassuring evidence that even sporadic physical activity can have lasting health benefits, making it easier for people to prioritize their well-being amid busy schedules.”

    The research examined health and physical activity data for more than 93,000 people in a large biomedical database in the UK to explore how different physical activity patterns may affect the risk of dying from all causes and specifically cardiovascular disease and cancer. The team reviewed physical activity data collected from wrist accelerometers, devices that measure movement and are likely more accurate than surveys that ask participants about their activity.

    The study categorized the data into three groups: “active weekend warrior,” or people who completed most of their exercise in one or two days, “active regular,” or those who spread their activity throughout the week, and “inactive,” or those who didn’t complete the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of weekly physical activity.

    Compared to the inactive group, the weekend warrior and active regular groups had significantly lower risks of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer if they completed 150 minutes of physical activity a week.

    The analysis also found:

    • No significant differences in the risk of death surfaced between the weekend warrior and active regular groups.
    • For weekend warriors, the risk of death from all causes was 32% lower, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 31% lower, and the risk of death from cancer was 21% lower.
    • Among participants in the active regular group, the risk of death from all causes was 26% lower, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 24% lower, and the risk of death from cancer was 13% lower.
    Vigorous exercise with gardening

    While the new research aligns with previous studies, it is the first to analyze the relationship between physical activity patterns measured by accelerometers and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

    Some of the findings surprised the research team, who initially expected that spreading activity throughout the week would be more beneficial. They did not anticipate that weekend warriors’ condensed physical activity would reduce the risk of death from disease.

    “This reinforces the idea that meeting the 150 minutes of physical activity per week guideline is key to longevity, regardless of the activity pattern,” Dr. Li said. “Any activity, whether structured exercise such as jogging or daily tasks such as gardening, can be included if the intensity is moderate to vigorous.”

    American Heart Association expert volunteer Keith Diaz, PhD, said the findings emphasize that the total volume of physical activity is the crucial factor for health benefits, rather than how it is distributed across a week. Dr. Diaz, the Florence Irving Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and a member of the association’s Physical Activity Science Committee, was not involved in this research.

    “Many people struggle to fit in daily exercise during the workweek. However, this research shows that even if you can only be active on the weekends, you can still gain meaningful health benefits,” he said. “One important caveat to remember is that trying to fit 150 minutes of exercise into just one or two days can be a lot on your body. Some research suggests that weekend warriors have a slightly higher risk of musculoskeletal injuries compared to those who exercise more regularly. However, the benefits of exercising just on the weekend far outweigh the potential risks. If you are going to be a weekend warrior, make sure you do proper warm-ups and build up and progress to higher volumes of activity over time. This will help reduce your risk of injuries.”

    The researchers said future studies should be conducted to confirm these results in more diverse groups of people throughout the world and with more consideration for contradictory factors such as genetic predisposition or environmental exposures that may influence physical activity and the outcomes.

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  • Poached salmon with leek sauce Poached Salmon with Leek Sauce

    This recipe is perfect for spring—a light cooking technique and vibrant flavors. Leeks are the unsung heroes of the allium family, delivering a sweet, oniony taste. Just be sure to triple-wash them to remove all the sand before cooking.

    Ingredients

    For the poached salmon:

    • 2-pound salmon fillet
    • 4 fresh dill sprigs
    • 1 large onion, sliced
    • 6 black peppercorns
    • 2 cups white wine  

    For the leek sauce: 

    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 small garlic clove, minced 
    • 2 large leeks, trimmed, cleaned, and cut into coins or half moons 
    • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste  
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste
    • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

    Directions

    Step 1

    To poach the salmon, place it in a skillet large enough to hold it (you can cut a whole side into pieces to make it fit). Add the rest of the ingredients and enough cold water to cover the fish. Bring the liquid to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the fish is opaque. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. 

    Step 2

    While the salmon is cooking, make the leek sauce: Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil and garlic. Once the garlic has softened, add the leeks, salt, and pepper. Sauté the leeks over medium-low heat until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the butter and stir to melt it into the sauce. 

    Step 3

    Cut the fish into four portions (if not already cut up). Plate the fish and top with the sautéed leeks. Drizzle with olive oil.

    Yields 4 servings

  • Gourmet grilled cheese Olive Oil Hunter News #212

    Gourmet Grilled Cheese Recipe, Spotlight on Cheese, A Screening Test for Former Smokers plus More Evidence That Activity Is Good Medicine

    Sometimes you just need comfort food, and who doesn’t love a gooey grilled cheese sandwich? My recipe takes this favorite to the next level with a blend of flavorful cheeses and the spiciness of fresh-pressed olive oil. This edition of the newsletter also details a screening test that former smokers might not realize they need, plus new research on how exercise can help reduce the risk for five serious health conditions.

    Gourmet Grilled Cheese

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Rosemary

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

    Olive Oil for the Griddle

    In addition to its wonderful flavor, olive oil is great for cooking with a stovetop griddle, especially cast iron, which conducts heat well. Contrary to popular thinking, it has a high smoke point and helps create that crispy outer texture we love in grilled sandwiches. If you see burned spots on your sandwich, chances are the griddle wasn’t preheated properly. Here’s how: Place your dry griddle across two burners and heat it on medium heat for 10 minutes. To get a nice sear on bread, raise the heat to medium-high for 3 minutes. When a drop of water sizzles, it’s ready. Now you can drizzle the hot griddle with olive oil and get cooking.

    Reminder: Be gentle with cast-iron griddle cleanup. Once it’s completely cool, use paper towels to wipe it down. Move it to the sink and wash it using only hot water and a soft-bristle brush or a sponge. Dry it thoroughly to discourage any rust from forming. 

    Quick Kitchen Nugget: Slicing Cheese

    Quick Kitchen Nugget

    Slicing Cheese

    Slicing manchego cheese

    While you always want to serve cheese at room temperature to appreciate its flavor, for easy-peasy cheese slicing or shredding, whether to set up a charcuterie board or for a sandwich, slice it when it’s cold, right out of the fridge. To prevent plated sliced cheese from drying out, always cover it until serving time.

    For Your Best Health: A Screening Test for Former Smokers

    For Your Best Health

    A Screening Test for Former Smokers

    Most people know that smoking increases the risks for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart attack, but there are other heart threats that are not as well-known, like having an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a bulge in a blood vessel weakened by the effects of smoking. 

    Experts at the UChicago Medicine Center for Aortic Diseases explain that there are two ways in which smoking damages blood vessels: blockages that reduce how much oxygen and blood reach tissues, and aneurysms, when a blood vessel weakens and develops a bulge. The aorta is the body’s largest blood vessel, and it runs through the center of the chest and abdomen. When the bulge occurs in the lower part of the aorta, it’s called an abdominal aortic aneurysm. If it keeps growing, it can burst, leading to potentially fatal internal bleeding. Most aneurysms grow slowly and don’t cause any noticeable signs or symptoms along the way (some people experience indigestion) until they rupture, when sudden intense back or abdominal pain can be a sign.

    It’s unclear how much smoking puts you at risk for an aortic aneurysm, but the risk increases the longer and the more often you use tobacco. Men over age 65 are especially vulnerable. Quitting can’t reverse an existing aneurysm (it does help prevent more damage to your body, of course), and that’s why the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends a one-time ultrasound test for men between the ages of 65 and 75 who smoke or who have ever smoked. This way, your doctor can find any aneurysm in its earliest stage, when it can be monitored if small or, if already large, be treated. The task force did not find conclusive evidence that female smokers should be screened, but no matter what population group you’re in, if you smoke or used to, talk to your doctor about your unique health circumstances and whether this test is right for you. 

    Fitness Flash: More Evidence That Activity Is Good Medicine

    Fitness Flash

    More Evidence That Activity Is Good Medicine

    healthy, senior woman resting after exercise

    People who get moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may be less likely to develop dementia, stroke, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, according to a preliminary study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 77th Annual Meeting. The study also found that the more time people spent sitting, the more likely they were to develop one of these diseases.

    “This research highlights the role of physical activity and sedentary behavior as modifiable factors that may enhance brain health and reduce the incidence of these diseases,” said study author Jia-Yi Wu, MD, of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. “It is promising to think that encouraging people to make these lifestyle changes could potentially lessen the burden of these diseases in the future.”

    From a large United Kingdom database, researchers looked at data from 73,411 people with an average age of 56 who wore accelerometer devices continuously for seven days to measure their physical activity, how much energy they used on their activities, and how much time they spent sitting each day. A measurement system called metabolic equivalents (METs) was used to quantify energy expenditure. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was defined as activities with an energy expenditure of at least three METs, such as walking or cleaning, and more-intense exercises, like cycling, with around six METs, depending on speed. 

    People who had a moderate-to-vigorous physical activity energy expenditure were 14% to 40% less likely to develop the five diseases than those who had lower energy expenditure, depending on how active they were. The more time people spent sitting, the higher their risk of developing one of the diseases, with the increase ranging from 5% to 54% higher than among those who spent the least amount of time sitting. 

    “Some previous studies have relied on people reporting on their own levels of activity,” Dr. Wu said. “With our large number of participants and the use of devices that provide objective measurements of activity levels, these results will have implications for assessing risk factors and developing interventions to prevent the development of these diseases.”

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  • sliced leg of Lamb with rosemary Olive Oil Hunter News #211

    Butterflied Leg of Lamb Recipe, Spotlight on Rosemary, and Protecting Against Cardiovascular Diseases After Menopause

    Lamb is a celebratory dish in so many cultures, yet the idea of preparing a leg of lamb at home can be intimidating. One way to simplify the process plus cut the roasting time is with a butterflied leg—your butcher removes the bone and opens the lobes of meat to create a flat butterfly shape, which allows fast and even cooking. Also in this issue you’ll read about a caution concerning raw milk and a successful two-pronged approach to reduce inflammation, the root cause of so many diseases.

    Butterflied Leg of Lamb

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Rosemary

    Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

    Rosemary

    An herb strongly associated with the Mediterranean cuisines, rosemary, or Rosmarinus officinalis,is endemic to the dry, rocky areas of the region, especially along the coast. According to the Herb Society of America,Rosmarinus comes from Latin ros and marinus,which translate to “dew of the sea.” Rosemary makes a fragrant addition to your outdoor herb garden and is very hardy, but bring any plants indoors for the winter. The herb lends a very distinctive taste to foods, from roasted lamb to potatoes. A little goes a long way—use it judiciously so that it doesn’t overpower the finished dish.

    Rosemary sprigs
    Quick Kitchen Nugget: Freezing Rosemary

    Quick Kitchen Nugget

    Freezing Rosemary

    Got leftovers? Rosemary sprigs will keep for a week or two when wrapped in a paper towel and placed in the vegetable drawer of your fridge. But you can also freeze them for future use. First, freeze the sprigs. When frozen, use your fingers to strip off the leaves, working from the top of the sprig downward; place them in an airtight, freezer-safe container and then return them to the freezer.   

    Fitness Flash: Protecting Against Cardiovascular Diseases After Menopause

    Fitness Flash

    Protecting Against Cardiovascular Diseases After Menopause

    Healthy senior woman cooking

    Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä’s Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences in Finland have found that women with a disordered eating behavior, such as restricting food to control weight or body shape, and low physical activity tend to have more central body fat and a higher risk of metabolic low-grade inflammation. This, in turn, increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, which become more prevalent after menopause. Body fat distribution changes as menopause progresses and estrogen levels decrease, causing the adipose tissue concentrated in the hips and thighs to gradually shift to the midsection as harmful visceral fat. 

    The researchers investigated the connections between this inflammation and health behaviors—sleeping, eating, and physical activity—and found that the combined effect of exercise and healthy eating offers the most effective protection against inflammation and may also reduce it after menopause.

    “In line with previous studies, a higher amount of visceral fat was, as expected, associated with low-grade inflammation,” said Hannamari Lankila, a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. “Visceral fat accumulated in the midsection secretes cytokines that increase inflammation, and this can increase the risk of metabolic diseases.”

    When eating and physical activity were examined together, higher physical activity was associated with lower visceral fat, especially in those women who did not display disordered eating behavior. “The connection was weaker, meaning that the protective effect of even a high amount of exercise was less, if the individual had eating-related difficulties,” Lankila continued. “Surprisingly, sleep was not a significant factor in this equation.”

    The combined effects of health behaviors during menopause have not previously been studied. The menopause phase is significant, as women live more than a third of their lives after menopause, on average. During this period, the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases increases significantly.

    “It’s good to remember that even after menopause, it is possible to reduce the accumulation of harmful visceral fat and thus prevent metabolic and cardiovascular diseases that may result from it,” Lankila concluded.

    The study is part of the larger EsmiRs (estrogen, microRNAs, and the risk of metabolic dysfunctions) study, which was carried out from 2018 to 2022 at the Gerontology Research Center at Jyväskylä. The study participants were women living in Central Finland who were between the ages of 51 and 59. 

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  • Gourmet grilled cheese Gourmet Grilled Cheese

    Forget the white bread and American cheese. My version calls for three or four types of cheese—feel free to choose your own favorites—and slices of a crusty loaf enhanced with olive oil for another layer of flavor. I like to cut each sandwich into four lengths and artfully stack them on a plate for an elegant presentation. The following ingredients are for two sandwiches; multiply quantities as desired.

    Ingredients

    • 4 slices of crusty artisanal bread
    • 8 ounces assorted cheeses, such as mozzarella, gruyere, Manchego, and cheddar, thinly sliced
    • Extra virgin olive oil

    Directions

    Step 1

    Heat a griddle, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat while you assemble the sandwiches. Place the bread on a cutting board or platter and drizzle it with olive oil. Stack equal amounts of cheese on two of the slices, then top with the remaining bread. Drizzle both outer surfaces with olive oil. 

    Step 2

    When the griddle is ready, drizzle it with olive oil and add the sandwiches. Let them cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, pressing them down occasionally with a metal spatula. Flip the sandwiches and continue cooking until the cheese is fully melted.

    Step 3

    Transfer the sandwiches back to your cutting board and cut them into fourths before serving.

    Yields 2 generous servings

For Your Best Health: Managing Depression: Using Scents to Unlock Memories 

For Your Best Health

The MIND Diet for Brain Health: More Benefits of Olive Oil

According to a new study from researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The Robert Butler Columbia Aging Center, a very specific brain-boosting diet has been linked to reduced dementia risk and a slower pace of aging. The study, “Diet, Pace of Biological Aging, and Risk of Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study,” published in the Annals of Neurology, also explains how the diet helps slow down the processes of biological aging.

“Much attention to nutrition in dementia research focuses on the way specific nutrients affect the brain,” said Daniel Belsky, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and a senior author of the study. “We tested the hypothesis that healthy diet protects against dementia by slowing down the body’s overall pace of biological aging.”

The researchers used data from the second generation of the Framingham Heart Study, the Offspring Cohort. Participants were 60 years of age or older and free of dementia and had available dietary, epigenetic, and follow-up data. Follow-up was done at nine examinations, approximately every 4 to 7 years, which included a physical exam, lifestyle-related questionnaires, blood sampling, and, starting in 1991, neurocognitive testing. Of 1,644 participants included in the analyses, 140 developed dementia. 

To measure the pace of aging, the researchers used an epigenetic clock called DunedinPACE developed by Dr. Belsky and colleagues at Duke University and the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The clock measures how fast a person’s body is deteriorating as they grow older, “like a speedometer for the biological processes of aging,” explained Dr. Belsky.

“We have some strong evidence that a healthy diet can protect against dementia,” said Yian Gu, PhD, associate professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the other senior author of the study, “but the mechanism of this protection is not well understood.” Past research linked both diet and dementia risk to an accelerated pace of biological aging. “Testing the hypothesis that multi-system biological aging is a mechanism of underlying diet-dementia associations was the logical next step,” explained Dr. Belsky.

The research determined that higher adherence to the MIND diet slowed the pace of aging as measured by DunedinPACE and reduced risks for dementia and mortality. Furthermore, slower DunedinPACE accounted for 27% of the diet-dementia association and 57% of the diet-mortality association.

“Our findings suggest that slower pace of aging mediates part of the relationship of healthy diet with reduced dementia risk, and therefore, monitoring pace of aging may inform dementia prevention,” said first author Aline Thomas, PhD, of the Columbia Department of Neurology and Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain. “However, a portion of the diet-dementia association remains unexplained, therefore we believe that continued investigation of brain-specific mechanisms in well-designed mediation studies is warranted.”

“We suggest that additional observational studies be conducted to investigate direct associations of nutrients with brain aging, and if our observations are also confirmed in more diverse populations, monitoring biological aging may indeed inform dementia prevention,” noted Dr. Belsky.

Exactly What Is the MIND Diet?

MIND is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, tailored to reflect key findings from nutrition and dementia research. It details serving sizes of specific foods to focus on and which to limit, primarily those high in saturated fat, which is known to negatively affect brain health. 

Foods and portions to eat every day: 1/2 to 1 cup green leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup other vegetables, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and three 1-ounce servings of whole grains. 

Foods and portions to eat over the course of each week: 5 ounces nuts, 2-1/2 cups berries, 1-1/2 cups legumes, two 3-to-5-ounce servings of skinless poultry, and 3-to-5 ounces fish.

Foods to limit to these weekly totals: three or fewer 3-to-5-ounce servings of red and processed meats, 1 ounce whole-fat cheese, 1 fried or fast food, and 4 sweet servings. If desired, no more than 1 teaspoon of butter or stick of margarine a day.

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Olive Oil Hunter News #163

Mini Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies Recipe, For Your Best Health: The Mediterranean Diet (Still No. 1)

Among the most important news items I share in this newsletter are results of scientific studies on the benefits of olive oil and, in a larger context, the Mediterranean diet. I love to report on research that shows how this way of eating—and living—has positive impacts on heart and brain health and can help ward off serious chronic diseases including diabetes and dementia. 

It’s also rewarding to see how the diet has been adopted here in the US and how many of our esteemed institutions, such as the American Heart Association and the Cleveland Clinic, recommend it. An annual survey that so many people appreciate reading is the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of dietary plans or “Best Diets.” And for the seventh year in a row the Mediterranean diet triumphs in the top spot. I’ll detail the highlights of the magazine’s reasoning right after this delicious recipe for cookies you can enjoy guilt-free—in moderation, of course.

Mini Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies

  • Pistachio thumbprint cookies Mini Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies

    With a minimal amount of sugar, these cookies pack all the heart-healthy benefits of nuts, a key food—along with extra virgin olive oil—of the Mediterranean diet. Though sweets are the smallest food group on the Mediterranean diet food pyramid, we know that an occasional treat can help us stay on track with this healthful way of eating. This recipe shows that you don’t have to make huge sacrifices to enjoy it.

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup shelled pistachios
    • 1-1/2 cups almond flour
    • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    • 2 large egg whites
    • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
    • 1/4 cup raspberry or apricot all-fruit (no sugar added) preserves, such as Polaner or St. Dalfour

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Use a spice or coffee bean grinder to pulverize the pistachios (you may need to do this is batches). Transfer to a large bowl along with the almond flour and sugar, and mix thoroughly.

    Step 2

    In a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and salt at a low speed until frothy, then increase the speed and beat until you get soft peaks. Briefly whip in the olive oil and the extracts. Fold the whites into the nut mixture with a large spatula until fully combined. The dough will be very firm.

    Step 3

    Using a 1-inch ice cream scoop or melon baller, make dough balls and evenly space them on the parchment-lined pans. Use your thumb to make an indentation in the top of each cookie, flattening the centers and then filling each with a half-teaspoon or so of preserves.

    Step 4

    Bake just until set, about 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Wait 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a rack to cool. When completely cooled, store in an airtight tin. 

    Yields about 44 cookies

For Your Best Health: The Mediterranean Diet is Still No. 1

For Your Best Health

The Mediterranean Diet: Still No. 1

According to the U.S. News & World Report 2024 rankings, created in partnership with The Harris Poll and with input from a panel of leading health experts, the Mediterranean diet has once again taken the No. 1 spot in the Best Diets Overall category, thanks to its focus on diet quality and primarily plant-based foods. The Mediterranean diet also claimed the top spot in the categories Best Diets for Diabetes, Best Heart-Healthy Diets, Easiest Diets to Follow, Best Diets for Bone and Joint Health, Best Family-Friendly Diets, and Best Diets for Healthy Eating, and the No. 2 spot in the Best Weight Loss Diets and the Best Plant-Based Diets categories. 

One of the reasons it’s both adoptable and adaptable is that there are so many cuisines to choose from when looking for recipes. Dishes that are popular in Turkey and Greece will offer different tastes than those from Italy, France, or Spain or from Morocco and other North African countries. But the unifying elements are the same: the emphasis on vegetables, fruits, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, whole grains, legumes, herbs, spices, and other plant-based foods that leave you feeling satisfied; minimal food processing; and a convivial atmosphere in the kitchen and at the table. 

The Mediterranean diet also ranks high for what it leaves out:saturated fat, added sugars, and excess salt—all so prevalent in the typical American diet and so likely to leave you wanting more because foods with a low-nutrient profile are not truly satisfying. Eating them regularly also poses health risks. Eating a Mediterranean-style diet, on the other hand, translates to a longer life, a higher quality of life, and a lower risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, dementia, and heart disease.

The Mediterranean diet food pyramid is a great way to visualize the foods to focus on and how often to eat them. Whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruit, and olive oil make up most of your daily intake. Seafood can be enjoyed a few times a week; animal proteins like poultry, eggs, cheese, and yogurt less often; and red meat less often still. But you also have a lot of leeway, so you don’t need to feel guilty about eating foods not on the pyramid. Nothing is totally eliminated, though you’re advised to eat foods like sugary desserts, butter, heavily processed foods like frozen meals, candy, and refined grains and oils sparingly.

Mediterranean Food Pyramid with Olive Oil and recommended servings
Mediterranean Food Pyramid

To get started on the Mediterranean diet, or to more closely follow it, U.S. News & World Report suggests these tips:

  • Think of meat as your side dish and whole grains or vegetables as your main dish. 
  • Look beyond Greek and Italian cuisines for inspiration—in all, 22 countries border the Mediterranean Sea!
  • As with any diet, do some advance meal planning so you won’t be tempted by convenience foods after a long day at work. For instance, cook up a batch of grains or lentils on the weekend to use for meals throughout the following week.
  • Make water your main source of hydration. Wine is considered optional and then only in moderation—one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #142

Composed Roasted Beet Salad Recipe with Balsamic Vinegar, Spotlight on Whisks, Speaking More than One Language to Fight Alzheimer’s, and Protecting Against Falls at Every Age

Roasting brings out the flavors of autumn vegetables, making them exceptionally delicious—and the only thing better than drizzling them with extra virgin olive oil is also adding a few drops of rich balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy. That’s why I’m so excited to announce my third collection of artisanal vinegars from the T. J. Robinson Curated Culinary Selections and the following recipe so that so well highlights my balsamic vinegar, Condimento Exclusivi Barili.

Also in this issue…If you’re looking for new pastimes as the weather changes, consider learning another language—a study review found that the brain reserves you’ll create could delay the arrival of dementia symptoms. And to protect physical health at every age, get to know simple steps to help prevent falls.

Composed Roasted Beet Salad

  • Composed Roasted Beet Salad Recipe with Balsamic Vinegar Composed Roasted Beet Salad

    This is a great time of year to sample the savory sweetness of yellow beets. Roasting beets intensifies their surprising sweetness, a palate-pleasing contrast to the greens in this recipe. The bold flavors in this salad need just olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress it, but you’ll need to bypass imposters and source true aceto balsamico from Italy—see the Healthy Ingredient Spotlight in my newsletter.

    Ingredients

    • 4 large yellow beets
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling
    • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar from Modena, plus more for drizzling
    • 4 cups assorted salad greens
    • 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings
    • 1 ounce chopped hazelnuts

    Directions

    Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Trim the beets but don’t peel them, and cut into quarters. Transfer to the sheet pan and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast until tender, up to one hour. Out of the oven, roll up the beets in the parchment paper and allow them to sit for 10 minutes; this makes it easy to now take off the peels. Toss them with the rest of the olive oil and the tablespoon of vinegar. Divide the greens among four plates and top with equal amounts of beets, cheese shavings, and hazelnuts. Drizzle with more olive oil and vinegar.

    Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Burrata

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Authentic Balsamic Vinegar

As those of you who have already been enjoying the vinegars of the T. J. Robinson Curated Culinary Selections know, after years of requests from members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, I made it my mission to source the best artisanal vinegars on the planet. That meant distinguishing true aceto balsamico or balsamic vinegar from its many pretenders.

With so many bottles on store shelves labeled “balsamic,” it’s important to know how to choose correctly. First and foremost, the vinegar must be completely crafted in Modena, a city within the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, according to exacting, centuries-old standards enforced by the local consortiums. Anything else is, quite simply, not balsamic vinegar. Beyond this, the ultimate quality of a Modena balsamic depends on the skill of the producer, including knowing what wood to pick for each period of aging.

When in Italy, I always look forward to walking through the pristine olive groves at Acetomodena, the producer of my collection’s balsamic vinegar.

A few different types of balsamic vinegars are available within the strict guidelines. There is Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta or Protected Origin Denomination), which can take generations to make and is wildly expensive. That’s because it’s crafted exclusively from cooked grape must—all parts of the grapes are used—and aged for a minimum of 12 years and sometimes 25 years or even longer. A few ounces cost well over a hundred dollars, so it’s not used for cooking or making vinaigrettes but for drizzling sparingly on foods as a finishing touch.

The next is Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta or protected geographical indication). It must be made from grape must and wine vinegar only and aged in wooden barrels for at least two months, but can be aged for as long as three years, which allows it to get sweeter and more harmonious as it achieves the perfect ratio of density to acidity. Many companies take the industrial route, rapidly boiling down the grape must, which often imparts the taste of burnt toast, and aging for the bare minimum.

Choosing the best vinegars for you can be as complex as choosing the best fresh-pressed olive oil. I love working with Gary Paton of Società Agricola Acetomodena in Modena and tasting just how nuanced “balsamic vinegar” can be, depending on the aging process.

The Acetomodena balsamic in my collection is a special IGP vinegar called Condimento Barili Exclusivi. The “condiment” designation allows producers more freedom to craft a vinegar that goes beyond strict IGP requirements with a taste akin to that of the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale—it has the perfect balance of acidity, sweetness from grape must, and woodiness from the barrel aging.

Why you should have this vinegar in your kitchen: A pure balsamic vinegar, sweet and thick, is a culinary essential. It adds the perfect finish to cheeses, salads, grilled foods from vegetables to meat, and even desserts, like strawberries and figs.

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Rinsing Lettuce

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Whisks Aplenty

Having a few well-made whisks makes important cooking prep steps nearly effortless. But with so many sizes—and shapes—available, how do you know which ones you really need?

Start with a French whisk, long and narrow with numerous loops of wire, or tines, great for beating eggs and making egg-based sauces, custards, and curds. Add a balloon whisk, an overall large whisk that balloons to more of a ball shape at the end, for combining large volumes of dry or wet ingredients and whipping cream and egg whites if you don’t have a stand or hand mixer. Balloon whisks typically have fewer loops than smaller whisks so that ingredients don’t get caught in them. A very small mini-whisk is ideal for beating small quantities of vinaigrette, a single egg, or cocoa and milk for a cup of hot chocolate. There are more exotic shapes you can buy, like a flat whisk for reaching all around a saucepan and a coiled whisk (with a small oval of coiled wire at the end), if you’re an equipment lover.

Most important is whisk construction. Cheaply made whisks fail early on—the wires pop out of the handle or they just don’t have enough loops to be effective. Look for whisks made of high-quality, dishwasher-safe stainless steel. To avoid scratching nonstick saucepans, you’ll also want whisks made of silicone—just keep in mind that they’re more fragile and tend to require more arm work on your part.

For Your Best Health: Imperfect calorie counting may be good enough

For Your Best Health

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Or Italian, French, or Spanish? Today may be a great day to start! A new review conducted at UCLA and published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease examined the numerous and often conflicting studies on whether regularly speaking two or more languages can help fight Alzheimer’s.

According to the review’s results, being bi- or multi-lingual does increase the brain’s cognitive reserve, a protective effect thought to stem from the executive control involved in managing multiple languages. The review acknowledged that findings in the various studies reviewed were not consistent when it came to factors like the age at which people should start learning another language, how proficient they need to be in it, or how often they need to use it. There also isn’t hard evidence that it can prevent Alzheimer’s, but most did find that the increased cognitive capacity and resilience of the brain’s frontal lobe from learning languages can delay the emergence of dementia symptoms by about 4 to 5 years. And that delay has a potentially significant impact on the course of the disease for those who get it. Another positive is that learning a new language can be fun in the here and now, especially with easy-to-access programs like Duolingo and Babbel, which have apps for your smartphone and free trials.

Fitness Flash: Exercise: Exercising to Burn Fat

Fitness Flash

Protecting Against Falls At Every Age

We face not only mental but also physical perils as we age, and one of the most devastating can be a fall that breaks a bone, especially a hip. UNLV assistant professor, physical therapist, and board-certified neurological clinical specialist Jennifer Nash, DPT, CNS, explains it’s hard to recover from a hip fracture, and afterward, many people are unable to live on their own. More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling, usually by falling sideways. Women account for three-quarters of all hip fractures, often because of osteoporosis, which weakens bones and makes them more likely to break. Recovery from a broken hip can be grueling. It can land you in the hospital for a week and possibly a care facility afterward to continue healing.

During recovery, every activity of daily living, including any exercise, can be painful. That pain can create a vicious cycle when it comes to physical inactivity: The less you do, the less you will be able to do. Decreased activity leads to decreased strength and function, which leads to deconditioning, increased fear of activity, and decreased quality of life. This can all lead to even greater inactivity, Dr. Nash points out.

The answer is to do your best to prevent a fall in the first place with a plan based on guidelines from the National Council on Aging:

Participate in a good balance and exercise program. Try a community exercise program or get started on an individualized program with the help of a physical therapist.

Check in with your healthcare provider. Review any medications you’re taking for side effects that include dizziness. In fact, if different specialists have prescribed different medications for you, ask your primary care doctor or pharmacist to review them all for negative interactions. Have your blood pressure checked—some people experience dizziness from a blood pressure drop when they stand up from seated exercises or just from being in a chair.

Have your vision and hearing checked annually. Three components make up the body’s balance system: vision, proprioception (the ability to sense where you are with your feet), and the vestibular system (the inner ear). Dr. Nash says hearing is important for your balance. If you can’t hear someone coming up behind you, you might get startled and trip. Or maybe you can’t hear someone warning you about an uneven surface, which could lead to a fall. At a certain age, she says that, compared to single-focus lenses, bi-focal or tri-focal lenses can be problematic because they can lead you to look through the reading lens to climb stairs or uneven surfaces, and that can create depth-perception issues.

Create a safe home environment. Remove any and all tripping hazards like loose cords and clutter along the floor, even throw rugs. Improve your lighting, especially on stairs, which should have at least one railing. Add grab bars in key areas like the shower and near the toilet. Make sure there’s a night light on the path to the bathroom to lessen the chance of falling if you wake up in the middle of the night to go.

And if you ever do experience a fall and hit your head, call your doctor right away and ask about getting evaluated for a traumatic brain injury or TBI. Don’t wait for symptoms to appear.

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