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.
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.
Rich avocados are puréed with traditional guacamole ingredients for a luscious cream. Instead of chips, serve with cold poached shrimp for a satisfying tapa or even a meal.
Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 garlic cloves
1 small jalapeño, stemmed and seeded
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces cooked shrimp
Directions
Step 1
Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh directly into a high-powered blender or food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients except the shrimp and process on high until smooth; it should have the texture of whipped cream cheese. If too thick, add cold water, just 1 tablespoon at a time, and process for a few seconds.
Step 2
Spoon the avocado cream into highball glasses or small bowls and garnish with equal amounts of shrimp, whole or chopped, and a drizzle of olive oil.
This is a traditional cold tomato soup, often made with plum tomatoes, but don’t confuse it with gazpacho. The tomatoes are the stars of this show. It takes mere minutes to whip up.
Ingredients
1 pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove
4 ounces crusty day-old bread, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Pedro Ximénez sherry vinegar, more to taste
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste
1/3 cup cold water if needed
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into chunks
2 ounces serrano ham, cut into dice or strips
Directions
Step 1
In a high-powered blender or food processor, pulse the tomatoes and garlic until almost puréed. Add the bread pieces and let the tomatoes soften them for a minute. Add the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper and process until smooth. Add the water, if needed, to achieve the texture of cream of tomato soup
Step 2
Transfer to 4 bowls or wide mugs and top with equal amounts of hard-boiled eggs and ham.
Migas is Spanish for breadcrumbs, and this dish makes the most of a leftover loaf when sautéed and served with chorizo, the famed Spanish sausage. First developed as a breakfast dish in Andalucía, it’s popular throughout Spain for lunch and even dinner, and variations abound. This is the version I cooked with Juande de Dios of García-Molina, producer of this quarter’s medium selection.
Ingredients
8 ounces day-old bread
1/2 cup water at room temperature, more if needed
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more, for drizzling
6 ounces chorizo, cut in 1/2-inch slices
1 medium onion, about 8 ounces, halved and cut into slivers
1 large bell pepper, 8 ounces, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste
4 eggs
Directions
Step 1
Cut the bread into chunks, then pulse them in the food processor until you have a mix of small and medium pieces along with some crumbs (you can also do this all by hand). You should have about 4 cups.
Step 2
Transfer to a large bowl and add 1/2 cup water just to moisten them. Use your hands to work the water into the breadcrumbs, adding more only if needed (the breadcrumbs should be damp and crumbly, not soggy).
Step 3
Heat a 12-inch frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chorizo; cook until well browned, about 7 minutes. Add the onions, peppers, garlic, salt, and black pepper and cook until the peppers are tender, another 10 to 15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chorizo and vegetables to a nearby bowl, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible. Add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan, then the bread; allow it to crisp for about 2 minutes before flipping the pieces. When they’re all fully toasted, fold in the chorizo and vegetables; turn off the heat.
Step 4
Heat another large frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and then crack an egg into each quadrant of the pan. Let cook undisturbed until the whites are firm.
Step 5
Divide the migas among four plates and top each portion with a fried egg.
Caramelizing onions is a labor of love—time consuming, but you can do other jobs in the kitchen while keeping an eye on them, and the taste is worth every minute. Maximize the effort by doubling or tripling the amount and save the rest for other dishes. Piquillo peppers are available online and in some stores, and come roasted, skinned, and jarred—they’re also great on sandwiches.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use
4 ounces onions, cut into thin slivers
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided use
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 piquillo peppers, cut into large dice
1 scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions
Step 1
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the onions and cook for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Continue cooking over medium-low heat until tender and brown, 30 or more minutes (an hour or more if you double or triple the amount of onions). Transfer the onions to a dish.
Step 2
Raise the heat under the pan to medium-high. Beat the eggs in a bowl with the rest of the salt and the black pepper. Add the rest of the olive oil to the pan, then pour in the eggs. Cook undisturbed until firm around the edges, then place peppers, scallion, goat cheese, onions, and herbs on one half of the eggs. Fold the plain half over the fillings and continue to cook for another 3 minutes until the eggs are set; for ease, use a cake lifter instead of a spatula to fold. Then slide the omelet onto a serving plate.
This dish takes its name from the exquisitely sweet Pedro Ximénez sherry. Pork tenderloin is an extremely lean cut that will stay juicy with my two-step sear-and-bake method. Thinly slice any leftovers and pile on a crusty roll for lunch the next day.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the tenderloin on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Brush it on all sides with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle on the salt, then pat on the black pepper.
Step 2
Heat a Dutch oven wide enough to hold the pork over high heat. When hot, add the rest of the olive oil and the pork. Sear the pork on all sides, turning it with tongs every 2 minutes.
Step 3
Cover the Dutch oven and place it in the oven to finish cooking for 10 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer registers 145°F when inserted into the thickest part of the tenderloin. Carefully place the Dutch oven on the stovetop and move the pork to a cutting board to rest while you make the sauce.
Step 4
Turn the heat up to high, add the shallots and garlic to the pan juices, and sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid scorching. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, using a spatula to get up all the brown bits. Bring to a boil and cook until the sherry is reduced by half. Add the stock and boil it down until it’s reduced, again by half, and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take the pot off the heat and whisk in the butter.
Step 5
Slice the tenderloin into 8 medallions, divide among 4 plates, and spoon on equal amounts of sauce.
Avocado Tuna Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Canned Tuna, Safer Avocado Slicing, HDL Cholesterol and Brain Health, and Moderate Exercise and Appetite
Move over avocado toast—avocado tuna salad is the new must-have dish. My recipe incorporates olive oil and cannellini beans for even more toothsome goodness. In fact, it’s loaded with ingredients that help boost good HDL cholesterol, which has many health benefits. For one, HDL may protect the brain’s gray matter, according to new research done at UT Southwestern Medical Center. I’m also sharing a finding from Murdoch University in Australia that moderate-intensity exercise may help decrease appetite in people trying to lose weight.
Avocado Tuna Salad
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Update on Tuna
Because of its availability and low price, canned tuna is the most consumed fish in the US. But recent recalls (due to defects in the cans themselves) and concern over mercury levels in fish may have you wondering how safe it is to eat tuna and how often.
The type of tuna matters. When Consumer Reports (CR) analyzed popular brands, their scientists found that chunk light and skipjack tuna have roughly a third of the mercury found in albacore, with some even greater variations by brand. Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, StarKist, and Safe Catch Wild Elite had the lowest amounts of mercury and were deemed safe to eat up to three times a week, compared with albacore that on average should be limited to once a week.
Where the tuna was caught matters too. CR reported that “experts who study mercury contamination in fish have found that levels of it in different oceans appear to be linked to different practices and policies in the nations nearby. For instance, mercury contamination in tuna caught in the Pacific Ocean is on the rise, but levels are dropping in tuna from the Atlantic Ocean,” said Nicholas Fisher, PhD, a distinguished professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University in New York. “In China and India, they burn a lot of coal for electricity, and when you burn coal, you release a lot of mercury into the air, which eventually rains down; so mercury levels have been increasing somewhat in the Pacific,” Dr. Fisher added. “Whereas in the Atlantic, we’ve shown that the levels have declined a little bit, primarily because of efforts made in North America … to sort of scrub the mercury from coal-fired plants in the US and Canada.”
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Safer Avocado Slicing
You’ve probably seen chefs on TV piercing an avocado pit with the tip of a knife and then twisting it out. As impressive as this maneuver might look, it’s extremely dangerous, for fingers and the palm of your hand. According to a study published in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, there were an estimated 50,413 avocado-related knife injuries from 1998 to 2017 in the US. An analysis of data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission found there are roughly 24 avocado-related hospital visits per day!
There’s even a name for this common injury: avocado hand. It happens when the knife slices through the fleshy part of the avocado and into your hand or fingers. This can lead to tendon, nerve, blood vessel, or muscle injury that could permanently affect the ability to use your hand. According to experts at University of Utah Health, here’s the right way to cut an avocado and remove the pit:
Choose a ripe avocado and place it on a cutting board.
Use a butter knife and cut it in half lengthwise.
Twist the avocado to pull apart the halves.
Remove the pit by putting your index and middle finger between the pit and flesh and placing your thumb on the back to push and pop out the pit.
Remove the flesh from the skin with a spoon.
For Your Best Health
HDL Cholesterol and Brain Health
High-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol, may play a vital role in conserving healthy brain matter in middle-aged adults, according to the first study to investigate a potential link between HDL function and brain volume. The research was done at UT Southwestern Medical Center and published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
“Our study has identified a novel role of HDL cholesterol function in maintaining gray matter volume in the brain, which is important for cognitive function in middle-aged adults,” said the study’s first author, John Giacona, PhD, assistant professor of applied clinical research and internal medicine in the School of Health Professions at UT Southwestern.
The research involved 1,826 participants between the ages of 35 and 70 enrolled in the multiethnic, population-based Dallas Heart Study, a longitudinal study now in its 25th year. First, fasting lipoprotein concentrations were assessed using nuclear magnetic resonance. Participants were then tested for cognitive function, and their brain matter volume was measured using brain magnetic resonance imaging. Initial assessments took place between 2000 and 2002, and participants were reassessed between 2007 and 2009.
Professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiology Anand Rohatgi, MD, and his team at UTSW’s Clinical Heart and Vascular Center measured HDL function in this study. Their findings revealed that higher concentrations of small-particle HDL—but not larger particles or total HDL concentration—were linked with greater gray matter volume and higher cognitive capacity.
“Previous research has shown conflicting evidence regarding the concentration of HDL cholesterol in development of dementia or brain atrophy,” said senior author Wanpen Vongpatanasin, MD, professor of internal medicine and director of the hypertension section in the division of cardiology at UTSW. “However, the concentration of HDL cholesterol may not reflect their function.”
HDL decreases the amount of low-density lipoprotein LDL, or bad cholesterol, in blood vessels by transporting the excess to the liver, where it gets broken down. “In addition, HDL particles exist in many sizes, which may be linked to their function,” Dr. Vongpatanasin said. “We now need to understand exactly how the small HDL particle, which can cross the blood-brain barrier, may have a beneficial role in maintaining brain health.”
This finding led the researchers to note that HDL cholesterol function or levels of small HDL particles may be used as markers for a population at risk of developing cognitive decline, though additional studies would be required to confirm the connection.
According to the UMass Chan Medical School Center for Applied Nutrition, to increase your HDL you should increase the amount of physical activity you do, lose weight if needed, quit smoking if you smoke, and aim to increase omega-3 fatty acids in your diet with foods like fatty fish (such as light tuna, salmon, trout, and sardines), freshly ground flaxseed, walnuts, and dark, leafy greens.
Fitness Flash
Moderate Exercise and Appetite
A recent study from researchers at the Murdoch University Health Futures Institute in Australia found that moderate-intensity exercise can significantly influence appetite-related hormones and perceptions in obese men. It provides new insights into how exercise can aid appetite control and weight management.
According to one of the study authors, Timothy Fairchild, PhD, associate professor at Murdoch’s School of Allied Health, the study confirms their previous work showing the benefits of incorporating regular exercise into daily routines for individuals looking to manage their weight and improve their overall health.
“People understand that exercise helps burn energy. A lot of people assume that exercise also increases hunger and energy intake afterwards,” said Dr. Fairchild. “We have previously shown, using high-intensity exercise, that this is not the case. This latest study shows that even moderate-intensity exercise can have immediate and beneficial effects on appetite control in males with obesity.”
The study not only assessed food intake and appetite but also measured changes in hormones, which help regulate appetite. “Despite a strong focus on weight loss drugs in society at present, this study shows that lifestyle factors still have a strong and relevant role in helping people to live their healthiest life,” Dr. Fairchild added. “In fact, the hormones which have been shown to increase after exercise are the same hormones which the most successful weight loss drugs are mimicking. The added benefit of exercise is that you also receive the physical and mental health benefits of exercise.”
This twist on tuna salad forgoes mayo for creamy, nutrient-dense avocado (the avocado should be ripe but still somewhat firm). This recipe is also great made with grilled tuna—the next time a fillet is on the dinner menu, consider making a little extra to enjoy this dish for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Hass avocado, cut into chunks
One 5-ounce can chunk light tuna, drained and flaked, or the equivalent amount of grilled tuna
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons minced red onion
4 cups mixed spring greens, arugula, and/or baby spinach
Directions
Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil and lime juice. Whisk in the parsley, salt, and pepper. Place half the avocado chunks in the bowl and mash them into the dressing. Gently fold in the rest of the chunks, the tuna, tomatoes, beans, and red onion.
Step 2
Divide the greens between two bowls and top with equal amounts of the tuna and drizzles of olive oil.
Cut the carrots on the diagonal into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Place them in a large frying pan and add just enough cold water to cover them. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a rapid boil.
Step 2
Reduce the heat to a low boil and add the olive oil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes, until almost all the water has evaporated and the tip of a knife easily pierces a few carrots.
Step 3
Add the sherry to the pan and continue cooking until it mostly evaporates and the carrots are nicely glazed. Just before serving, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with olive oil.
Background: Cognitive decline—worsening memory and more frequent memory loss or confusion—affects 10% of all US adults aged 45 and older. Incidence is higher—11.4%—among Hispanic and Latino Americans. In some cases, cognitive decline may be an early sign of dementia.
Close adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) is associated with a reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline. The MeDi emphasizes fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, low to moderate amounts of dairy, eggs, fish, and poultry, and olive oil as the primary fat source.
Researchers have attributed the MeDi’s brain benefits to its cardiovascular effects, such as lower blood pressure, reduced diabetes risk, and improvements in blood vessel function and cholesterol levels. The first large-scale study of the MeDi in Hispanic and Latino Americans investigated whether the MeDi’s brain benefits are independent of its cardiovascular effects.
Preliminary findings from this 10-year study of 2,774 participants (44% men, 56% women; average age 64 at follow-up) were presented at the recent conference of the American Stroke Association, February 5–7, 2025.
Methods: At an initial visit, each participant reported their food intake during the previous 24 hours and received a score (0 to 9), indicating how closely their diet corresponded to the MeDi. Average MeDi score was 5. Ten years after the baseline visit, investigators obtained a brain scan via MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) for each participant.
The main outcome evaluated in the study was white matter integrity (WMI) and volume. The white matter of the brain (as opposed to the gray matter) consists of bundles of nerve fibers that, crucially, communicate information to different parts of the brain. WMI and volume are markers of the strength of those connections in the brain. MRI scans provide clear, detailed cross-sections of the brain, showing white matter and gray matter.
To account for the impact of cardiovascular benefits, the study also asked participants about multiple practices associated with heart health: regular exercise; healthy diet; not smoking; weight maintenance; and maintaining healthy blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.
Results: Participants with higher MeDi scores had stronger connections between regions of the brain (preserved WMI) compared to those with lower MeDi scores. With each point higher in MeDi score, participants’ MRI scans also showed less structural damage to the blood vessels of the brain. After factoring in heart-health practices, the researchers determined that cardiovascular effects alone did not account for all the significant brain benefits of the MeDi.
Conclusion: Eating a Mediterranean-style diet improved brain health and preserved structural integrity in a high-risk population. Even small adjustments in food intake, closer to the MeDi, could help protect against cognitive decline and dementia. The brain benefits of the MeDi extend beyond its well-known cardiovascular effects—more research is needed to identify the brain-protective mechanisms involved.
Olive Oil and Lemon Pancakes Recipe, Spotlight on Lemons, Heating Your Griddle, The Downside of Perfumed Products, and Your Brain on Exercise
If you love fluffy flapjacks, you’ll be over the moon about these olive oil and lemon pancakes, packed with flavors as well as nutrients. Boxed mixes can’t hold a candle to them! Speaking of candles, you’ll want to read about discoveries from researchers at Purdue who found that scented products, including wax melts that are flame-free, are creating indoor toxins that can harm respiratory health. I’m also sharing a study on a brainy benefit from exercise.
Olive Oil & Lemon Pancakes
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Keeping Lemons Fresh Longer
A squeeze of lemon adds freshness to so many dishes that I always have a few on hand. And to make sure they stay fresh until I use them, I don’t keep them in a bowl on the counter, but rather in the fridge. This can extend their shelf life from about one week to three or four weeks.
When you get home from the store, rinse the lemons under cold water and dry them thoroughly. Then place them in an airtight container in a crisper drawer.
Because citrus fruits more easily release their juices at room temperature, take lemons out of the fridge about an hour before using.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Heating Your Griddle
Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club know that I’m a stickler when it comes to heating a pan before adding olive oil. This is especially true for a stovetop pancake griddle because this cookware needs a long preheat to create uniform temperature and avoid hot spots that can burn your pancakes.
Place your griddle on the stovetop over medium heat and give it 5 to 10 minutes to heat up. Test it with a drop of water—the water should sizzle and evaporate quickly. Then pour a tablespoon of olive oil on the griddle and use a silicone brush to spread it across the surface.
If you’re unsure whether the pan is hot enough, test with a small spoonful of batter. The bottom should brown evenly within a minute or two. If browning happens too quickly and you see dark spots when you flip it, lower the heat a notch before proceeding. If the tester doesn’t brown nicely, turn the heat up a notch.
For Your Best Health
The Downside of Perfumed Products
Do you find the scent of a pine forest or a rose bush so pleasant that you use products with the fragrance indoors? Problem is, simulating natural aromas with chemicals, like those found in air fresheners, wax melts, floor cleaners, and room deodorants, rapidly fills your inside environment with nanoscale particles, invisible to the naked eye and small enough to penetrate deep into your respiratory system and spread to other organs, according to research done at Purdue University. These nanoparticles form when fragrances interact with ozone, which enters buildings through ventilation systems, triggering chemical transformations that create new airborne pollutants.
“A forest is a pristine environment, but if you’re using cleaning and aromatherapy products full of chemically manufactured scents to re-create a forest in your home, you’re actually creating a tremendous amount of indoor air pollution that you shouldn’t be breathing in,” said Nusrat Jung, DSc, an assistant professor in Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering.
Dr. Jung and her colleague Brandon Boor, PhD, Purdue’s Dr. Margery E. Hoffman Associate Professor in civil engineering, have been the first to study nanoscale airborne particle formation indoors and compare it to outdoor atmospheric processes. “To understand how airborne particles form indoors, you need to measure the smallest nanoparticles—down to a single nanometer. At this scale, we can observe the earliest stages of new particle formation, where fragrances react with ozone to form tiny molecular clusters. These clusters then rapidly evolve, growing and transforming in the air around us,” said Dr. Boor.
In a “tiny house lab,” a dedicated residential lab space for indoor air quality research, Drs. Jung and Boor are using the latest industry-developed air quality instruments to track how household products emit volatile chemicals that evaporate easily and generate the tiniest airborne nanoparticles. Called the Purdue zero Energy Design Guidance for Engineers (zEDGE) lab, the tiny house has all the features of a typical home but is equipped with sensors for closely monitoring the impact of everyday activities on a home’s air quality. Dr. Jung led the design of the lab, which was built in 2020 as the first of its kind. With this unprecedented level of detail and accuracy, Drs. Jung and Boor have made discoveries suggesting that many everyday household products used indoors may not be as safe as previously assumed.
Even though it’s yet to be determined how breathing in volatile chemicals from these products impacts your health, newly formed nanoparticles are particularly concerning because they can reach very high concentrations, potentially posing risks to respiratory health. Both professors believe these findings highlight the need for further research into indoor nanoparticle formation triggered by heavily scented chemical products. “Our research shows that fragranced products are not just passive sources of pleasant scents—they actively alter indoor air chemistry, leading to the formation of nanoparticles at concentrations that could have significant health implications,” Dr. Jung said. “These processes should be considered in the design and operation of buildings and their HVAC systems to reduce our exposures.”
The two researchers also specifically found that scented wax melts, typically advertised as nontoxic because they are flame-free, actually pollute indoor air at least as much as candles. Wax melts and other scented products release terpenes, the chemical compounds responsible for their scents. Since wax melts contain a higher concentration of fragrance oils than many candles do, they emit more terpenes into indoor air. These terpenes then rapidly react with ozone, triggering significant nanoparticle formation. In fact, the nanoparticle pollution from wax melts rivals that of candles, despite the absence of combustion. They also found that essential oil diffusers, disinfectants, air fresheners, and other scented sprays generate a significant number of nanoscale particles.
Drs. Jung and Boor use the tiny house lab to study how a range of other everyday household activities, such as hair care routines, could impact a home’s air quality. Dr. Jung and her students have found that several chemicals, particularly cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes, ubiquitous in hair care products, linger in the air in surprising amounts during and after use. In a single hair care session at home, a person can inhale a cumulative mass of 1 to 17 milligrams of these chemicals.
Toxicologists will need to build upon these studies to find out exactly how harmful it could be to inhale complex mixtures of volatile chemicals and nanoscale particles indoors. As their research continues, Drs. Jung and Boor also hope their findings will improve how indoor air quality is monitored, controlled, and regulated. “Indoor air quality is often overlooked in the design and management of the buildings we live and work in, yet it has a direct impact on our health every day,” Dr. Boor said. “With data from the tiny house lab, we aim to bridge that gap, transforming fundamental research into real-world solutions for healthier indoor environments for everyone.”
Fitness Flash
Your Brain on Exercise
A study led by scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick has shown that specialized cells involved in how the body responds to insulin are activated in the brain after exercise, suggesting that physical activity may directly improve brain function. The research, published in Aging Cell, a journal focused on the biology of aging, indicates that therapies targeting this insulin action may be developed to offset or even prevent dementia progression.
“We believe this work is important because it suggests exercise may work to improve cognition and memory by improving the abilities of insulin to act on the brain,” said Steven Malin, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study.
Conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, the researchers focused on the role of neuronal extracellular vesicles, specialized cells released by the brain. Extracellular vesicles, once dismissed by researchers as “cell dust,” have in the past 15 years grown exponentially in recognition as important players in the microscopic world of the human body, facilitating transport of key molecules such as proteins between cells. For this study, the scientists targeted vesicles produced in the brain that ferry several proteins involved in insulin sensitivity, one of which is called Akt.
Insulin sensitivity is a measure of how well the body responds to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels. People with high insulin sensitivity can use blood glucose more effectively in the body, such as in the muscles, which reduces blood sugar. People with type 2 diabetes, with its key symptom of low insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance, have brain cells that are less responsive to insulin. This can have negative impacts on cognition.
Researchers were able to study the vesicles by isolating them in the blood of participants in an experimental study. The trial, conducted over two weeks, included a group of 21 volunteers who had an average age of 60 and had prediabetes. Over the course of the study, they engaged in 12 individual, supervised, 60-minute exercise sessions of moderate to high intensity. The participants ingested a glucose drink before and after training, and researchers collected blood samples from them at the start and end of exercise training. The blood samples showed that the number of neuronal vesicles carrying the proteins involved in insulin sensitivity increased after each training, with Akt being most notable.
“We showed for the first time that exercise impacts insulin signaling from neuronal extracellular vesicles in relation to clinical improvements in blood sugar,” Dr. Malin said. “And we use these neuronal extracellular vesicles as an indicator of brain insulin sensitivity.” Exercise, therefore, is potentially able to improve the brain’s capacity to respond to insulin for neuronal function, he said.
Insulin is a hormone increasingly recognized to regulate cognition, the mental process of acquiring knowledge through thought, experience, and the senses. Prediabetes is a serious health condition that occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Those with prediabetes run the risk of having insufficient levels of insulin in their bodies, particularly the brain, which increases the chances of developing diseases of dementia such as Alzheimer’s, Dr. Malin said.
Insulin also plays a crucial role in memory formation, recall, processing speed, and the functioning of synapses, structures that allow brain cells to communicate with one another. “If insulin is insufficient in the brain, that means not only will brain cells become potentially dysfunctional, but also they may fail to interact with each other properly,” Dr. Malin said. “It’s like playing the game telephone…At some point the message gets lost when the brain becomes insulin resistant.”
Exercise has long been believed to improve cognition, but the mechanisms involved have been unclear. Past studies have uncovered evidence that high blood sugar contributes to a decrease in the brain’s ability to recall information and learn new information. Dr. Malin said that insulin, which is produced by the pancreas and travels to the brain to perform its functions, plays a central role in promoting brain blood flow and neuronal functioning for cognition. “Our work suggests that therapies that target brain insulin action may be able to ward off dementia,” he added.
Future plans are to conduct a long-term exercise training study that assesses brain insulin sensitivity improvements in relation to cognition in older adults.
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.
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.
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: 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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.