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Olive Oil Hunter News #166

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Flourless Walnut Cake Recipe, Spotlight on Egg Whites and Springform Pans, The Mediterranean “Diet” and Brain Benefits of Exercise

Craving a delicious gluten-free cake but unsatisfied with alternative flours? This recipe breaks the mold, so to speak, with nutrient-packed walnuts and cocoa. What’s more, it can be part of a healthy way of eating, one that emphasizes lifestyle—yes, the Mediterranean diet. The importance of taking a holistic approach to the way you eat is the message of the latest research showing that yo-yo dieting is dangerous rather than being a helpful weight loss solution. I’m also sharing a positive consequence that comes from the release of dopamine during exercise beyond its feel-good mood boost.

Flourless Walnut Cake

  • Flourless Walnut chocolate cake Flourless Walnut Cake

    You don’t have to forgo dessert when you want to cut out flour. Ground nuts make a delicious and healthy alternative. I’ve included a luscious chocolate glaze, but this cake is delicious on its own or topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

    Ingredients

    For the cake:

    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
    • 3 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa, divided use
    • 8 ounces shelled walnuts 
    • 6 large eggs, separated
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Pinch fine sea salt

    For the glaze:

    • 8 ounces dark chocolate
    • ½ cup half-and-half
    • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 350°F with a rack in the center position. Lightly brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan with olive oil and then place a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, brush it with oil, and sprinkle it with 1 tablespoon cocoa; rotate the pan to distribute the cocoa on the bottom and sides. Shake out any excess.

    Step 2

    In a nut grinder or food processor, grind the walnuts until medium-fine (you may need to do this in batches). Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of cocoa and set aside.

    Step 3

    In a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks until pale yellow and thickened, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar, then the vanilla and the remaining olive oil, and continue beating until very thick, about 3 more minutes. Use a spatula to fold in the walnut-cocoa mixture.

    Step 4

    In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add the salt and gradually increase the speed to high; beat until glossy and stiff. Working in two or three batches, gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture. Transfer to the cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until the cake starts to come away from the sides of the pan; the tip of a sharp knife inserted in the center should come out clean except for a few crumbs.

    Step 5

    Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes (it will sink a bit), then invert onto another rack. If the cake doesn’t turn out easily, run a spatula around the inner rim to release it from the sides of the pan. Peel off the parchment and invert it again onto a cake plate. Let it finish cooling.

    Step 6

    For the glaze, place 7 ounces of the chocolate in a small, microwave-safe glass bowl along with the half-and-half and melt at 50% power for 3 minutes, until the chocolate is almost fully melted (if needed, microwave in additional 1-minute increments). Add the last ounce of chocolate and let sit on the counter for 2 minutes to cool down, then stir until smooth. Whisk in the olive oil until smooth. Wait until the glaze cools to room temperature, then pour over the top of the cake and use a long offset metal spatula to spread it in an even layer. Let it set for about an hour before serving.

    Yields 8 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Salad Greens 

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Freezing Egg Whites

While it’s possible to freeze extra yolks and whites when a recipe calls for more of one than the other, yolks are not as forgiving as whites—better to use them in a custard or curd. Whites, on the other hand, not only freeze well but whip up perfectly after defrosting. The easiest way to freeze them is to place each white in a compartment of a large ice cube tray; when frozen, pop them out and into a freezer-safe bag, then back in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge the day before you’ll be using them.

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Storing Salad Greens

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Springform Pans

While parchment paper is a great way to avoid having a cake stick to the bottom of a cake pan, a springform pan goes a step further. It’s invaluable when making a torte or cheesecake that’s so pliable it could break down the middle when trying to get it out of a regular baking pan.

Springform pans

Once you unlatch the springform pan’s removable ring, it’s easy to slide a cake lifter under the cake or simply cover the top of the cake with a large dish and flip it to remove the bottom and peel off your parchment—I like to think of the parchment as a double layer of protection. (If the sides of the cake happen to be sticking to the ring, slide a rubber or silicone spatula between the cake and the side to gently free the cake before unlatching the ring.) Always transfer your cake from the springform base as soon as it’s cool. Cutting a cake on the base will scratch it, and there’s also the chance that your dessert could pick up the taste of the pan’s material if left on it for too long.

The classic springform pan is metal, and many come with a nonstick coating. Like most other kitchen tools, springform pans are now available in silicone, which is good for sturdier bakes, but not always for soft or dense ones or when you want to build a crust up the sides because of the material’s flexibility. Good-quality silicone pans are also less likely to leak than metal ones (the possibility of leakage is why many recipes suggest wrapping a springform pan with foil).

Springform pans are available in many sizes, from 6 inches for a petite cake up to 12 inches. For a first pan, the 9-inch size will be the most versatile.

For Your Best Health: A Monthly 5-day Modified Fast to Boost Longevity

For Your Best Health

Think Twice Before You “Diet”

Diet is a word with different meanings. When we talk about diet at the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, it’s in the context of the Mediterranean diet. Though it can help you lose weight, it’s a way of life, not something you go on and off of. And it offers a social dynamic, which makes people feel that they’re part of an inclusive group.

When most people use the word diet, they typically mean a weight-loss diet, something research has told us again and again doesn’t work. That’s because people follow such a diet for a set time and then, unfortunately, revert to old ways of eating, usually regaining the lost weight and then some…only to try another weight-loss diet in the future. A new study, done at North Carolina State University, found just how toxic yo-yo dieting, also known as weight cycling, is and how difficult it can be to break the cycle.

“Yo-yo dieting—unintentionally gaining weight and dieting to lose weight only to gain it back and restart the cycle—is a prevalent part of American culture, with fad diets and lose-weight-quick plans or drugs normalized as people pursue beauty ideals,” said Lynsey Romo, PhD, corresponding author of the study and an associate professor of communication at NC State. “Based on what we learned through this study, as well as the existing research, we recommend that most people avoid dieting, unless it is medically necessary. Our study also offers insights into how people can combat insidious aspects of weight cycling and challenge the cycle.”

For the study, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 13 men and 23 women who had experienced weight cycling during which they lost and regained more than 11 pounds. All the study participants reported wanting to lose weight due to social stigma related to their weight and/or because they were comparing their weight to that of celebrities or peers. “Overwhelmingly, participants did not start dieting for health reasons but because they felt social pressure to lose weight,” Dr. Romo said.

The study participants also reported engaging in a variety of weight-loss strategies, which resulted in initial weight loss but eventual regain. Regaining the weight left people feeling worse about themselves than they did before they began dieting. This, in turn, often led to increasingly extreme behaviors to try to lose weight again. “For instance, many participants engaged in disordered weight management behaviors, such as binge or emotional eating, restricting food and calories, memorizing calorie counts, being stressed about what they were eating and the number on the scale, falling back on quick fixes (such as low-carb diets or diet drugs), overexercising, and avoiding social events with food to drop pounds fast,” said Dr. Romo. “Inevitably, these diet behaviors became unsustainable, and participants regained weight, often more than they had initially lost.”

“Almost all of the study participants became obsessed with their weight,” says Katelin Mueller, co-author of the study and graduate student at NC State. “Weight loss became a focal point for their lives, to the point that it distracted them from spending time with friends, family, and colleagues, and reducing weight-gain temptations such as drinking and overeating.”

“Participants referred to the experience as an addiction or a vicious cycle,” Dr. Romo said. “Individuals who were able to understand and address their toxic dieting behaviors were more successful at breaking the cycle. Strategies people used to combat these toxic behaviors included focusing on their health rather than the number on the scale, as well as exercising for fun rather than counting the number of calories they burned. Participants who were more successful at challenging the cycle were also able to embrace healthy eating behaviors, such as eating a varied diet and eating when they were hungry, rather than treating eating as something that needs to be closely monitored, controlled, or punished.”

Fitness Flash: A Surprising Advantage of Exercise 

Fitness Flash

Your Brain on Exercise

Dopamine, the neurotransmitter and hormone tied to pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation, is known to increase when you work out. Recent findings suggest it is also linked to faster reaction times during exercise. The researchers in the UK and Japan behind the discovery say it could lead to a new therapeutic pathway for cognitive health because of dopamine’s significant role in several conditions including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, ADHD, addiction, and depression.

The study measured the release of dopamine in the brain using the scanning device called positron emission tomography (PET). It tracked the metabolic and biochemical activity of the cells in the body. Explained Joe Costello, PhD, of the University of Portsmouth School of Sport, Health & Exercise Science in the UK, “We know cardiovascular exercise improves cognitive performance, but the exact mechanisms behind this process have not been rigorously investigated in humans until now. Using novel brain imaging techniques, we were able to examine the role dopamine plays in boosting brain function during exercise, and the results are really promising. Our current study suggests the hormone is an important neuromodulator for improved reaction time. These findings support growing evidence that exercise prescription is a viable therapy for a host of health conditions across the lifespan.”

Women working out on exercise bikes

As part of the study, three experiments were carried out with a total of 52 men. In the first, individuals were asked to carry out cognitive tasks at rest and while cycling in the PET scanner so the team could monitor the movement of dopamine in their brain. The second used electrical muscle stimulation to test whether forced muscle movement to stimulate exercise would also improve cognitive performance. The final experiment combined both voluntary and involuntary exercise. In the experiments where voluntary exercise was carried out, cognitive performance improved. This was not the case when only forced electrical stimulation was used.

“We wanted to remove voluntary muscle movement for part of the study, to see if the process in which acute exercise improves cognitive performance is present during manufactured exercise. But our results indicate that the exercise has to be from the central signals of the brain, and not just the muscle itself,” said Soichi Ando, PhD, associate professor in the Health & Sports Science Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan. “This suggests that when we tell our central command to move our body during a workout, that’s the process which helps the dopamine release in the brain.”

“These latest findings support our previous theory that cognitive performance during exercise is affected by changes to brain-regulating hormones, including dopamine,” added Dr. Costello. “There could also be a number of other psychophysiological factors, including cerebral blood flow, arousal, and motivation, that play a part.”

The paper, published in The Journal of Physiology, says further studies are needed and should include a range of participants, including women and older individuals, over a longer period of time to fully understand how dopamine release is linked to cognitive performance following exercise.

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Olive Oil Hunter News #165

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Philly-Style Cheesesteak Recipe, Spotlight on Flank Steak, How to Halve Avocados, New Lenses for Better Vision and Benefits of Walking in Nature

I love to “healthify” recipes that are delicious but could use a refresh, one that preserves their taste and lowers the guilt quotient over eating them. Philly cheesesteak is a great example—and this recipe comes together very quickly. I’m also sharing news about a potential revolution in corrective lenses that could have you seeing more clearly in the future, along with the latest study about the advantages of walking in nature—and why it’s better than a track or treadmill.

Philly-Style Cheesesteak

  • Philly-style Cheesesteak Philly-Style Cheesesteaks

    While delicious and beloved, the classic sandwich is somewhat of a greasy hot mess. With just a few tweaks, including a leaner cut of meat than usual and polyphenol-rich olive oil, it becomes a satisfying meal with a better health profile. If you prefer, swap mozzarella for the provolone.

    Ingredients

    • 1-1/2 pounds flank steak
    • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use
    • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
    • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
    • 2 thin baguettes or 4 seeded rolls, whole grain if possible 
    • Dijon mustard
    • 8 slices provolone cheese 
    • 1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly 
    • 1 large green or red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced

    Directions

    Step 1

    Prep the flank steak: To make the meat easier to thinly slice, place it in the freezer for 45-60 minutes to firm it up and get it frosty, but not to the point it’s frozen. For already frozen meat that you’re defrosting, slice before it thaws out completely. While you’re waiting, set out a platter and grab your raw meat-only cutting board and a sharp chef’s knife. (As an alternative, you can use the thin-slice blade of your food processor and work with chunks that will fit into the spout.) When the meat is ready, slice it against the grain—in the opposite direction of the meat fibers. Toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper, and set aside.

    Step 2

    Cut each baguette in half and then slice each bread section about three-quarters of the way through. For each sandwich, spread mustard on one side of the bread and layer on the provolone.

    Step 3

    Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the onion and bell pepper slices; lower the heat and slow-cook until the onions are fully caramelized. Use a large slotted spoon to move the veggies to a bowl. 

    Step 4

    Raise the heat back to medium-high and then add the rest of the olive oil. Add the meat (work in batches if needed to avoid crowding). Sear the meat, then use tongs to flip each piece and continue to sauté until well cooked with the edges slightly crispy.  

    Step 5

    To finish assembling the sandwiches, place equal amounts of the hot meat over the cheese—the heat will melt it. Top each with a generous amount of onions and peppers and a drizzle of olive oil.

    Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Flank Steak

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Flank Steak

Spoiler alert: Flank steak is not actually a steak, yet it’s still a flavorful cut of beef and quite affordable. Because it’s lean, it can be tough if not properly cooked. If you have a flank steak recipe, such as London broil, that calls for cooking an entire piece (rather than precutting it into thin slices), three things make all the difference: a long (overnight) marination, a fast grilling (or a very slow braise for a dish like brisket, which will also tenderize it), and slicing it against the grain—in the opposite direction of its meat fibers.

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Slotted Spoon Skimmer

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Timely Warning: What Not to do to Avocado Halves

Avocados

A couple of years ago, a so-called hack for keeping an avocado half from oxidation by storing it in a container of water exploded on social media sites. Problem is, storing any fruit in water creates a breeding ground for pathogens like listeria or salmonella on the peel to multiply, putting you at risk for a food-borne illness. Back then, the FDA issued a stern warning not to follow this tip and enthusiasm for the hack died down. But recently these videos have resurfaced, prompting this reminder. 

The safest way to store a leftover avocado half is to give it a generous squeeze of lemon or lime juice and press a small piece of food wrap over it, especially over the exposed flesh, then store it in the fridge. Also, remember to rinse whole avos under cold running water before using, just as you would with any fruit (or vegetable).

For Your Best Health: New Lenses for Better Vision 

For Your Best Health

New Lenses for Better Vision 

Do you ever feel as though your progressives aren’t giving you the visual range you need? A better lens may be at hand. Researchers have developed a spiral-shaped lens that maintains clear focus at different distances in varying light conditions. It works much like progressive lenses used for vision correction but without the distortions typically seen with those lenses. It could help advance contact lens technologies, intraocular implants for cataracts, and miniaturized imaging systems.

“Unlike existing multifocal lenses, our lens performs well under a wide range of light conditions and maintains multifocality regardless of the size of the pupil,” said Bertrand Simon, PhD, from Photonics, Numerical and Nanosciences Laboratory, a joint research unit of the Institut d’Optique Graduate School, the University of Bordeaux, and the National Centre for Scientific Research in France. “For potential implant users or people with age-related farsightedness, it could provide consistently clear vision, potentially revolutionizing ophthalmology.”

In Optica, Optica Publishing Group’s journal for high-impact research, the researchers describe the new lens, which they call the spiral diopter. Its spiraling features are arranged in a way that creates many separate points of focus, much like having multiple lenses in one. This makes it possible to see clearly at various distances.

The inspiration for the spiral lens design came when the paper’s first author, Laurent Galinier from SPIRAL SAS in France, was analyzing the optical properties of severe corneal deformations in patients. This led him to conceptualize a lens with a unique spiral design that causes light to spin like water going down a drain. This phenomenon, known as an optical vortex, creates multiple clear focus points, which allow the lens to provide clear focus at different distances.

“Creating an optical vortex usually requires multiple optical components,” said Galinier. “Our lens, however, incorporates the elements necessary to make an optical vortex directly in its surface. Creating optical vortices is a thriving field of research, but our method simplifies the process, marking a significant advancement in the field of optics.” Volunteers using the lenses reported noticeable improvements in visual acuity at a variety of distances and lighting conditions.

The researchers are now working to better understand the unique optical vortices produced by their lens. They also plan to perform systematic trials of the lens’ ability to correct vision in people to comprehensively establish its performance and advantages in real-world conditions. In addition, they are exploring the possibility of applying the concept to prescription eyeglasses, which could potentially offer users clear vision across multiple distances.

“This new lens could significantly improve people’s depth of vision under changing lighting conditions,” said Dr. Simon. “Future developments with this technology might also lead to advancements in compact imaging technologies, wearable devices and remote sensing systems for drones or self-driving cars, which could make them more reliable and efficient.”

Fitness Flash: The Multiple Benefits of Walking in Nature

Fitness Flash

The Multiple Benefits of Walking in Nature

New work from University of Utah psychology researchers is helping prove what American authors John Muir and Henry David Thoreau said more than 150 years ago: Time spent in nature is good for the heart and soul. Amy McDonnell, PhD, and David Strayer, PhD, are showing it’s good for your brain, too. Their study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, used electroencephalography (EEG), which records electrical activity in the brain with small discs attached to the scalp, to measure participants’ attentional capacity. They found that a walk in nature enhances certain executive control processes in the brain above and beyond the accepted benefits associated with exercise. The University itself has recently established a new research group, Nature and Human Health Utah, to explore these issues and propose solutions for bridging the human-nature divide.

Many researchers suspect that a primal need for nature is baked into our DNA, and diminishing access to nature puts good health at risk. “There’s an idea called biophilia that basically says that our evolution over hundreds of thousands of years has gotten us to have more of a connection or a love of natural living things,” said Dr. Strayer, a professor of psychology. “And our modern urban environment has become this dense urban jungle with cell phones and cars and computers and traffic, just the opposite of that kind of restorative environment.” Dr. Strayer’s past research into multitasking and distracted driving associated with cellphone use has drawn national attention. For the past decade, his lab has focused on how nature affects cognition. 

For this study, the researchers analyzed EEG data recorded on each of 92 participants immediately before and after they undertook a 40-minute walk. They started out by having participants do a complex cognitive task—counting backwards from 1,000 by sevens. “No matter how good you are at mental math, it gets pretty draining after 10 minutes,” Dr. McDonnell said. Right after that, they were given an attention task. The idea was to deplete the participants’ attentional reserves before doing the task and going for the walk, which they did without any electronic devices or talking to anyone along the way. Participants were randomly selected to walk through either the least built-up part of the Red Butte Garden, an arboretum in the foothills just east of the University, or the adjacent medical campus and parking lots. Both routes covered two miles at similar elevations.

T. J. Robinson and Mario Leotta in Lazio region of Italy
Enjoying a nature walk in the Lazio region of Italy with Mario Leotta, one of my amazing olive oil producers.

“The participants that had walked in nature showed an improvement in their executive attention on that task, whereas the urban walkers did not, so then we know it’s something unique about the environment that you’re walking in,” Dr. McDonnell said. “We know exercise benefits executive attention as well, so we wanted to make sure both groups have comparable amounts of exercise.”

What sets this study apart from much of the existing research is its reliance on EEG data as opposed to surveys and self-reporting, which do yield helpful information but can be highly subjective. “This is probably one of the most rigorous studies in terms of controlling for and making sure that it’s really the exposure in Red Butte” resulting in the observed cognitive effects, Dr. Strayer said.

The EEG data revealed three components of attention: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Executive control occurs in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, an area critical for working memory, decision-making, problem-solving, and coordinating disparate tasks. “The kinds of things that we do on an everyday basis tend to heavily use those executive attentional networks,” Dr. Strayer said. “It’s important in concentration, so it’s an essential component of higher-order thinking.”

While the EEG and attention task results did not show much of a difference for alertness and orientation between the garden and the asphalt walkers, those on the nature walk exhibited improved executive control. Drs. McDonnell and Strayer hope the findings can be refined to show what kind of natural settings result in optimal cognitive benefits and how much exposure is needed to help.

Dr. Strayer studies both distraction and attention, which he sees as opposing sides of the same coin. “It’s where the prefrontal cortex is overloaded, overstimulated, and you make all kinds of dangerous mistakes when you’re multitasking behind the wheel,” he said. “But the antidote to that is being out in a natural environment—leave the phone in your pocket and go out and walk the trails. The parts of the brain that have been overused during the daily commute are restored. You see and think more clearly.”

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Olive Oil Hunter News #160

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Chilaquiles with Fried Eggs Recipe, Spotlight on Salsa and Homemade Chips, Emotional Healing After a Loss and A Woman’s Edge When it Comes to Exercise

Mediterranean recipes aren’t the only ones enhanced by extra virgin olive oil. I love to use it in all my dishes, from Asian to South American and all points in between. In fact, even recipes that call for a “neutral” oil will be more flavorful with EVOO. My chilaquiles are the perfect example, and when you use olive oil to make this zesty tortilla chip breakfast, you’ll also get the health benefits of its polyphenols. In this edition of the newsletter, I’m also sharing a new study’s strategies for coping with grief, something we will all face at different points in our lives, as well as research on the different exercise needs of men and women.

Chilaquiles with Fried Eggs

  • Chilaquiles with fried egg Chilaquiles with Fried Eggs

    This Mexican dish, which dates back to the early Aztecs, is as delicious as it is easy to make. My fast-and-furious version uses prepared salsa and packaged tortilla chips for the quickest prep, but if you have a few extra minutes, it’s even more amazing when you make your own chips (see Quick Kitchen Nugget) and salsa—click to check out my salsa recipes. I love chilaquiles with fried eggs, but you can personalize your dish with another protein or beans. 

    Ingredients

    • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling
    • 1 small onion, slivered
    • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
    • 2 cups salsa (about 32 ounces), red or green
    • 4 cups tortilla chips
    • 4 large eggs
    • 4 ounces queso fresco or cotija cheese, crumbled
    • 1 avocado, cut into small chunks
    • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
    • Hot sauce 
    • Sour cream

    Directions

    Step 1

    Heat a very large frying pan and, when hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the onions, and the tomatoes. Sauté until the onions soften. Pour in the salsa and heat through. Add the chips and stir to coat; allow them to soften over low heat while you make the eggs.

    Step 2

    Heat a rimmed griddle over high heat and, when hot, pour in the remaining olive oil. Crack each egg into a separate area of the griddle and allow to fry, undisturbed, for 3 minutes.

    Step 3

    Spoon servings of the chilaquiles onto 4 plates and top with equal amounts of cheese, avocado, and cilantro. Use a wide spatula to top each portion with a fried egg and then drizzle with olive oil. Pass hot sauce and sour cream on the side.

    Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Choosing Salsa

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Choosing Salsa

There’s no shortage of jarred salsas on supermarket shelves, and many are excellent alternatives to making your own. Read labels and choose brands with only the essentials—typically tomatoes, onions, chiles, garlic, vinegar, cilantro, and spices. Steer clear of any artificial flavors—the core ingredients should have enough flavor on their own! Also, pay special attention to the salt content so you don’t go over nutritional guidelines. 

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Homemade Chips

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Homemade Chips

Originally, chilaquiles were created as a way to use leftover fresh tortillas, and if you can spare the time, making your own chips is a great way to go. Start with a stack of twelve 6-inch blue or yellow corn tortillas. Cut them into 6 triangles, place them in a bowl, and toss them with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper and arrange the tortilla pieces in one layer in the pans. Sprinkle lightly with coarse sea salt and bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for another 5 minutes.

For Your Best Health: Emotional Healing After a Loss 

For Your Best Health

Emotional Healing After a Loss 

Navigating the turmoil of losing a loved one is one of the most emotional—and universal—life experiences we go through. Grieving is different for each of us, and there’s no one healing road map or timetable to follow. But a new study found that there are simple activities that can help improve mood and emotional well-being.

“We were conducting a larger study that looked at how daily behaviors affect emotional well-being and day-to-day functioning, and we realized that a significant number of study participants were dealing with the traumatic loss of a loved one,” said Shevaun Neupert, PhD, the study’s corresponding author and a professor of psychology at NC State University. “Our study suggests there are specific things people can do to bolster their emotional well-being following a traumatic loss. This gave us an opportunity to gain insights into how daily behaviors in the wake of a loss can influence our emotional well-being.”

For the study, researchers worked with data from 440 adults between the ages of 50 and 85, and 356 of those participants reported the traumatic loss of a loved one. Study participants completed a daily diary survey for 14 consecutive days with questions designed to document changes in each of their day-to-day lived experiences and mood.

“The survey questions also helped us capture information related to subjective age, or how old people report feeling each day,” Dr. Neupert said. “Do they feel older than they actually are? Younger? And how does that correlate to their mood or emotional well-being?”

“One of the study’s big findings is that activities we call ‘uplifts’ can have a significant impact,” says Ali Early, co-author of the study and a former undergraduate at NC State. Uplifts are activities that can improve our mood, such as completing a task, getting enough sleep, dining out, spending time with family, and visiting, phoning, or writing to a friend.

“Uplifts were good for everyone, but there is some nuance in not only who is most impacted but when the uplifts are most powerful,” Dr. Neupert said. “For example, we found that the positive effect of uplifts was more pronounced for people who had experienced traumatic loss, and especially so on days when they reported feeling older…There are things we can do, which are accessible for most people, to improve our moods. And those things can help us most on days when we most need it.”

The study, “Traumatic Losses Permeate Daily Emotional Experiences: Roles of Daily Uplifts and Subjective Age,” was published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.

Fitness Flash: A woman’s Edge When it Comes to Exercise 

Fitness Flash

A Woman’s Edge When it Comes to Exercise 

There is a gender gap between women and men when it comes to exercise, but this one is in favor of females, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. It showed that women can exercise less often than men yet receive the same or even greater cardiovascular gains.

“Women have historically and statistically lagged behind men in engaging in meaningful exercise,” said Martha Gulati, MD, director of preventive cardiology in the department of cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, the Anita Dann Friedman Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research, and co-lead author of the study. “The beauty of this study is learning that women can get more out of each minute of moderate to vigorous activity than men do. It’s an incentivizing notion that we hope women will take to heart.”

Investigators analyzed data from 412,413 US adults utilizing the National Health Interview Survey database, including gender-specific outcomes in relation to frequency, duration, intensity, and type of physical activity between 1997 and 2019.

“For all adults engaging in any regular physical activity, compared to being inactive, mortality risk was expectedly lower,” said Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health and Population Science, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute, and senior author of the study. “Intriguingly, though, mortality risk was reduced by 24 percent in women and 15 percent in men.”

The research team then studied moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity, such as brisk walking or cycling, and found that men reached their maximal survival benefit from doing this level of exercise for about five hours per week, whereas women achieved the same degree of survival benefit from exercising just under about two and a half hours per week. 

Similarly, when it came to muscle-strengthening activity, such as weightlifting or core body exercises, men reached their peak benefit from doing three sessions per week and women gained the same amount of benefit from about one session per week. Dr. Cheng said that women had even greater gains if they engaged in more than two and a half hours per week of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity, or in two or more sessions per week of muscle-strengthening activities. 

With all types of exercise and variables accounted for, there’s power in the recommendations based on the study’s findings. “Men get a maximal survival benefit when performing 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, whereas women get the same benefit from 140 minutes per week,” said Dr. Gulati. “Nonetheless, women continue to get further benefit for up to 300 minutes a week.”

“I am hopeful that this pioneering research will motivate women who are not currently engaged in regular physical activity to understand that they are in a position to gain tremendous benefit for each increment of regular exercise they are able to invest in their longer-term health,” said Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the department of cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute and the Lee and Harold Kapelovitz Distinguished Chair in Cardiology.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #158

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Ribollita Tuscan Peasant Soup Recipe, Spotlight on Tuscan Kale, Soaking Beans, A Surprising Benefit of Flaxseed and Alternating Cardio with Resistance Exercise is Heart-Healthy

Tuscany is the land of legumes, notably beans, and Tuscans have a centuries-old tradition of cooking simple bean-based soups that make the most of whatever ingredients are on hand. Ribollita is a perfect example. Meaning “reboiled,” it’s a soup that can be reheated and even enhanced by adding in leftovers as your week moves along. Speaking of moving along, there’s interesting research on the role of resistance exercise in heart health. And another study I’m sharing provides food for thought: Flaxseed could play a role in reducing breast cancer risk.

Ribollita

  • Ribollita Ribollita

    While you can make Ribollita your own by adding in other vegetables, three ingredients define this soup: cannellini beans, hearty (and stale) Tuscan bread, and Tuscan kale. If you’ve been saving your Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds, now is the perfect time to use two of them!

    Ingredients

    • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 
    • 2 medium onions, diced 
    • 4 large carrots, diced
    • 3 celery stalks, diced
    • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
    • 1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
    • 1 large bunch Tuscan kale
    • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, more to taste
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 1/4 cup fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
    • 6 cups vegetable stock or water 
    • One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
    • 2 pieces of Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, if available
    • 3 cups cooked cannellini beans, homemade or two 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained  
    • 2 or more cups of hand-torn stale Tuscan bread
    • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

    Directions

    Step 1

    Heat a Dutch oven or stockpot, and when hot, add the olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat to soften but not brown the vegetables. Sprinkle on the salt to help them release their liquid. Add the kale and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the black and red pepper and the herbs; stir and then add the water or stock, the canned tomatoes with all their liquid, and the cheese rinds if available. Bring to a simmer and add the beans. Simmer for 30 minutes, and then add the bread. Cook for another 10 minutes to break down the bread a bit.

    Step 2

    To serve, ladle into bowls, drizzle on a generous amount of olive oil, and finish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

    Serves 10

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Kale

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

All Hail (Tuscan) Kale

If you’re not a huge kale fan, it could be that you’ve never tasted Tuscan kale. Also known as lacinato kale, black kale (cavolo nero), and even dinosaur kale, deeply colored Tuscan kale is not as bitter as curly kale, the more common option. So you get all the benefits of dark leafy greens that you don’t have to massage to make tender. 

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Soaking Beans

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Soaking Beans

It’s hard to beat the convenience of canned beans, but there are many more varieties to choose from when you use dried beans. Even the same variety that’s available canned will be more flavorful when made from scratch. One pound of dried beans will yield about 7 cups when soaked and cooked.

There’s very little active time needed—place your beans in a bowl that can hold at least three times their volume, cover them with cold water, and come back 4 hours later (or overnight). 

You can shorten the soaking time with a quick hack: Rinse the beans and place them in a large pot. Add enough cold water to cover them by 2-3 inches and bring the water to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then take the pot off the heat and let it sit for an hour. 

For Ribollita, the beans must be fully cooked before adding to the soup because of its limited cooking time. To do this, rinse your soaked beans, return them to your pot, cover them again with cold water, and bring them to a boil. Simmer for about 2 hours or until the beans are tender but not overly soft and they’re ready to add.

For Your Best Health: A Surprising Benefit of Flaxseed

For Your Best Health

A Surprising Benefit of Flaxseed

A new animal study demonstrated how the gut microbiome could be a factor in breast health. In the study, flaxseed components called lignans were shown to influence the relationship between gut microorganisms and the expression of mammary gland microRNAs or miRNAs (short, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression). A subset of these miRNAs regulates the genes involved in breast cancer, including genes that control cell proliferation and migration. 

“The gastrointestinal microbiota plays an important role in modifying many components of our diet to impact human health,” said Jennifer Auchtung, PhD, assistant professor in the Food Science and Technology Department at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and the editor who coordinated the review of the paper. “In this study, we found correlations between diets enriched in flaxseed, cecal microbiota composition, and miRNA profiles in the mammary gland that regulate many pathways, including those involved in cancer development. This preliminary study supports further research into the role that the microbiota plays in dietary approaches to reduce risk factors associated with disease.”

For this study, the researchers studied the effects of flaxseed lignans on the microbiota of young female mice. Lignans, fiber-associated compounds found in many foods and particularly plentiful in flaxseed, are associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in postmenopausal women. The researchers found that lignan components generate specific miRNA responses in the mammary gland. 

To determine whether the relationship between the microbiota and mammary gland miRNAs could be manipulated to reduce the risk of breast cancer, the researchers fed flaxseed lignan components to female mice to see whether gut cecal microbiota profiles are related to miRNA expression in the mammary gland. The cecum, the first part of the colon, located in the right lower abdomen near the appendix, is believed to have a role in production of short-chain fatty acids and has been proposed to serve as a reservoir of anaerobic bacteria.

One flaxseed oil lignan requires microbial processing to release bioactive metabolites, small-molecule chemicals produced during metabolism that influence physiology and disease—in this case, having antitumor effects. The researchers found that the microbiota and mammary gland miRNA are related and that flaxseed lignans modify the relationship to be non-cancer-causing.

“If these findings are confirmed, the microbiota becomes a new target to prevent breast cancer through dietary intervention,” said Elena M. Comelli, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, the corresponding author on the paper. The study was published in Microbiology Spectrum, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Fitness Flash

Alternating Cardio with Resistance Exercise is Heart-Healthy

A robust body of evidence shows aerobic exercise can reduce heart disease risks, especially for people who are overweight or obese. But few studies have compared results with resistance exercise, also known as strength or weight training, or with workout regimens that are half aerobic and half resistance. Researchers at Iowa State University led one of the longest and largest supervised exercise trials to help fill this gap.

Their results, published in European Heart Journal, indicate that splitting the recommended amount of physical activity between aerobic and resistance exercise reduces cardiovascular disease risks as much as aerobic-only regimens. However, resistance exercise on its own for the same amount of time did not provide the same heart health benefits.

“If you’re bored with aerobic exercise and want variety or you have joint pain that makes running long distances difficult, our study shows you can replace half of your aerobic workout with strength training to get the same cardiovascular benefits. The combined workout also offers some other unique health benefits, like improving your muscles,” said Duck-chul Lee, PhD, lead author and professor of kinesiology at Iowa State. That’s a huge plus because we tend to lose muscle mass, and consequently mobility and independence, as we age. 

“One of the most common reasons why people don’t exercise is because they have limited time. The combined exercise with both cardio and strength training we’re suggesting is not more time-consuming,” Dr. Lee underscored. Performing a certain number of sets and repetitions with weight machines, free weights, elastic bands, or your own body weight through push-ups or lunges, all count as resistance exercise.

How the study was done: 406 participants between 35 and 70 years of age enrolled in the one-year randomized controlled exercise trial. All met the threshold for being overweight or obese with body mass indexes between 25 and 40 kg/m2 and had elevated blood pressure. The researchers randomly assigned participants to one of four groups: no exercise, aerobic only, resistance only, or aerobic plus resistance. Those who were in one of the three exercise groups worked out under supervision for one hour three times a week for one year.

Every participant in the exercise groups received a tailored workout routine based on their individual fitness levels, health conditions, and progression. Those assigned to resistance training were given a certain number of sets, repetitions, and weights for weight-lifting machines. With aerobic exercises, participants wore a heart rate monitor and inserted a unique exercise program key into a treadmill or stationary bike. Sensing the participant’s heart rate, the machine automatically adjusted the speed and grade to match the prescribed intensity.

All participants wore pedometers to measure daily steps and met every three months with registered dietitians at Iowa State for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” education, which is promoted by the National Institutes of Health. On three random days per month, participants were asked to record what they had consumed in the last 24 hours with an online dietary assessment tool developed by the US National Cancer Institute.

At the start of the yearlong clinical trial, six months in, and at the end, the researchers measured each participant’s systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose, and body fat percentage, all well-established cardiovascular disease risk factors. “Many previous studies only looked at one of these four factors, but it’s really multiple factors combined that increase cardiovascular disease risk,” explained Dr. Lee. The researchers used a composite score to fairly quantify changes across all four factors since each uses a different unit of measurement. A lower composite score indicated less risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

At the end of the yearlong trial, the percentage of body fat in all three exercise groups had decreased significantly compared to the no-exercise control group. The authors found that “every -1% body fat reduction is associated with -3%, -4%, and -8% lower risks of developing [cardiovascular disease] risk factors of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and metabolic syndrome.” Taking all four cardiovascular disease risk factors into account, the aerobic and combined exercise groups had lower composite scores than the control group, with results consistent across gender and age.

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