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Olive Oil Hunter News #163

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

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

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

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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Dementia: Olive oil could help protect brain health, according to new study

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from the original research and an article by Robby Berman in Medical News Today, August 2, 2023

Consuming half a tablespoon of olive oil per day could substantially lower your risk of dying from dementia, a new study shows.

According to a presentation on July 24 at the NUTRITION 2023 conference in Boston, the study found that people who consumed half a tablespoon or more of olive oil daily had a 25% reduced risk of dying from dementia compared to people who did not consume olive oil.

What’s more, higher olive oil intake was linked to greater brain benefits. “We found a clear linear dose-response association between higher daily olive oil intake and lower risk of fatal dementia,” said presenter Anne-Julie Tessier, RD (registered dietician), PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

This US-based study is the first to investigate the relationship between diet and dementia-related death. The investigators analyzed the health records from 1990 to 2018 of more than 90,000 people in the US who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. During the study’s 28 years of follow-up, 4,749 participants died from dementia.

Replacing even a single teaspoon of margarine or commercial mayonnaise with olive oil was also associated with a 5-12% reduced risk of dying from dementia, according to the research team. These benefits were not seen with other vegetable oils.

The link between higher olive oil intake and lower risk of dying of dementia was observed regardless of the overall quality of people’s diets. This may indicate that components of olive oil provide unique benefits for brain health.

“Some antioxidant compounds in olive oil can cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially having a direct effect on the brain,” said Dr. Tessier. “It is also possible that olive oil has an indirect effect on brain health by benefiting cardiovascular health.” She noted that only a few individuals in the study consumed more than 15 mg (about 1 tablespoon) of olive oil daily.

A body of previous research has established an association between olive oil intake and a lower risk of heart disease, and incorporating olive oil as part of the Mediterranean diet has also been shown to help protect against cognitive decline.

Dr. Tessier reflected on the characteristics of olive oil that may confer its effects on the brain: “Olive oil may play a beneficial role in cognitive health through its rich content in monounsaturated fatty acids, which may promote neurogenesis [growth of brain cells]. It also contains vitamin E and polyphenols that have antioxidant activity.”

The research team advised that an observational study such as this is only able to identify an association and does not prove that olive oil is the cause of the reduced risk of dying from dementia. Randomized, controlled trials are needed to confirm the study’s findings and to help establish the optimal quantity of olive oil to consume in order to experience the most benefits.

Reference: Tessier JA, Yuan C, Cortese M, et al. Olive oil and fatal dementia risk in two large prospective US cohort studies. Poster presented at NUTRITION 2023 conference, Fairfax, VA, July 24, 2023.

The Olive Oil Hunter News #139

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Baked “Fried Zucchini” Recipe, For Your Best Health: The Benefits of Olive Oil and Alzheimer’s

It’s hard to escape all the talk about artificial intelligence (AI), and it has its proponents and its detractors, but a recent study showed how it can be a superhighway to important health advances. A group of international scientists used it to suss out which phytochemicals, specifically types of polyphenols, contribute to one of the most important benefits of olive oil: fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Though early in the game, the research is welcome news. One thing that there’s no question about is the exquisite taste of fresh-pressed olive oil (a sign of high polyphenol content), and this recipe for baked “fried zucchini” is a wonderful way to enjoy it. 

Baked “Fried Zucchini”

  • Baked Fried Zucchini Baked “Fried Zucchini”

    Traditional friend zucchini is such a popular appetizer, especially when dipped in zesty tomato sauce, but it’s almost always more breading and bland oil than a healthful way to eat your vegetables. My baked version offers all the taste you’re looking for in a way that elevates the zucs. For a quick and easy homemade sauce, see The Oil Olive Hunter Newsletter #137. 

    Ingredients

    • 2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, more as needed
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/2 cup freshly grated Reggiano-Parmigiano cheese
    • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
    • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
    • 1 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Combine the zucchini slices and olive oil in a large bowl and toss to coat well.

    Step 2

    Set up three shallow bowls or pie plates. Put the flour in one, whisk the eggs in another, and in the third, stir together the cheese, panko, basil, salt, and pepper. One at a time, dust the zucchini slices with flour, dip them in the egg, then in the cheese mixture, and place them on the sheet pan. 

    Step 3

    Bake until the coating turns brown and crispy, for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.  

    Yields 4 servings

Best Health: The Mediterranean Diet: Reversing Metabolic Syndrome After Heart Disease

For Your Best Health

The Benefits of Olive Oil and Alzheimer’s

The Study: “Alzheimer’s disease: using gene/protein network machine learning for molecule discovery in olive oil,” Human Genomics, July 2023.

The Summary: An international group of researchers, including scientists from Yale and Temple universities, used artificial intelligence to uncover the promising potential of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in combating Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

EVOO’s neuroprotective effects have garnered a lot of attention in recent years. The Mediterranean diet, rich in EVOO, has been associated with a reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline. To go the next step, this research team was able to create a unique algorithm by integrating AI, chemistry, and omics (an emerging multidisciplinary field that includes genomics and epigenomics) to identify which specific bioactive compounds in EVOO could contribute to the treatment and prevention of AD and analyze how they interact with the complex pathways involved in AD. Most interesting, they did this by comparing them to the actions of FDA-approved drugs for AD. 

The study adds to the growing evidence that the Mediterranean diet, rich in EVOO, supports brain health, mitigates dementia and cognitive decline, and can potentially provide a basis for consideration in future clinical studies to treat not only Alzheimer’s but other chronic conditions as well.

From the Abstract: “Previous studies suggest that extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) may be helpful in preventing cognitive decline. Here, we present a network machine learning method for identifying bioactive phytochemicals in EVOO with the highest potential to impact the protein network linked to the development and progression of the AD…The calibrated machine learning algorithm was used to predict the likelihood of existing drugs and known EVOO phytochemicals to be similar in action to the drugs impacting AD protein networks. These analyses identified the following ten EVOO phytochemicals with the highest likelihood of being active against AD: quercetin, genistein, luteolin, palmitoleate, stearic acid, apigenin, epicatechin, kaempferol, squalene, and daidzein (in the order from the highest to the lowest likelihood).” 

From the Study’s Results: “Our model allowed us to predict with 70.3% ± 2.6% accuracy which previously FDA-approved drugs were in phase 3 and 4 trials for AD specifically versus all other FDA-approved drugs not in AD trials. The resulting 64 models were used for scoring the EVOO phytochemicals; the probabilities of these phytochemicals predicted to be similar to the drugs in FDA phase 3 and 4 trials were then averaged to produce the final consensus prediction. EVOO phytochemicals with the highest probability of being like compounds in FDA trials were considered most likely to be biologically active.”

From the Study’s Conclusion: “It is well known that diet and lifestyle influence health. Machine learning is a novel, cost-effective way to evaluate the potential health benefits of individual EVOO phytochemicals. The present study provides an approach that brings together artificial intelligence, analytical chemistry, and omics studies to explore the interactions of phytochemicals with pathways involved in a disease state, information that can lead to the identification of novel therapeutic entities in a natural product (that contains a heterogeneous mixture of phytochemicals). The analyses identified several individual EVOO phytochemicals that have a high likelihood of interfering with AD, a few of which (e.g., quercetin, genistein) have shown promising effects on AD pathogenesis. Others (e.g., luteolin) are worthy of further in vitro and in vivo study. It is only through the conduct of such studies [that] the predictive utility of our machine learning approach [will] be validated. While the results of the present study shed light on how EVOO may help treat or prevent AD, the same approach may be applied to identify EVOO phytochemicals (or other food constituents) that treat other diseases, such as hypertension or dyslipidemia.”

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