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 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

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

Timely Warning: What Not to do to Avocado Halves

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

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.

“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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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 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

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

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 

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 

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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“Spiked” Apples Recipe, Spotlight on Apples, The Paring Knife, Cutting Calories May Boost Longevity, and Do You Have Aging Anxiety? Another Reason to Exercise!

If you’re like me, you love recipes that can be adapted to many dishes—and that’s why spiked apples are part of my winter repertoire. You’ll be tempted to eat them right out of the pan, but you should definitely explore the ways they can enhance other dishes. I’m also sharing two new discoveries—why just a small cut in daily calories can add years to your life and what you can do to quell anxiety over aging.

“Spiked” Apples

• “Spiked” Apples

  Calvados, the apple brandy from France’s Normandy region, adds great depth of flavor to apple dishes. Since most of the alcohol burns off, my spiked apples make a great addition to your morning oats or yogurt as well as a delicious filling for a tart or crêpes or the topping for a scoop of ice cream—vanilla and olive oil ice cream, of course! They’re equally delicious served alongside pork chops or a pork roast.

  Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tart apples, such as Granny Smith, cored and sliced into 12 wedges
  • 2 sweet apples, such as Fuji or Honeycrisp, cored and sliced into 12 wedges
  • 1/4 cup calvados
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar or your choice of sweetener
  • Cinnamon to taste
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

  Directions

  Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. When very warm, add the olive oil and the apples, arranging the fruit in one layer (do this in batches if your pan can’t hold them all at once). Let the apples cook until the edges brown slightly, then flip them and brown again. Add the calvados to deglaze the pan. After one minute, sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon and toss. The sugar should melt, but don’t let it burn. Add the butter and swirl until it melts, then remove from heat. 

  Yields 4-6 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Apples Galore

There’s merit to the old adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away—high in fiber and nutrients, apples are a great way to get you closer to the recommended daily five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables needed for good health. With over 2,000 varieties of apples now available and more being developed at leading agricultural universities, it would take years to try them all! Here are some of the most widely available varieties and how best to enjoy them.

• Empire: a sweet-tart cross between Red Delicious and McIntosh, ideal for eating raw or baking
• Fuji: crispy, sweet, and juicy, ideal for all uses
• Gala: crisp, juicy, and very sweet, ideal for eating raw
• Golden Delicious: mild, sweet flavor, ideal for eating raw or baking
• Granny Smith: tart and crisp, ideal for salads or cooking
• Honeycrisp: sweet and crispy, ideal for eating raw or making applesauce
• Jonagold: a sweet-tart mix developed from Golden Delicious and Jonathan apples, ideal for baking
• Macoun: very sweet, juicy, and aromatic, ideal for eating raw or making applesauce
• McIntosh: tangy and tart, ideal for eating raw or making applesauce
• Pink Lady: a highly flavorful cross of Golden Delicious and Lady Williams apples, ideal for all uses
• Red Delicious: sweet, crispy, and juicy, ideal for eating raw

Quick Kitchen Nugget

The Paring Knife

With all the stunning types of chef’s knives available, the chef’s knife’s sidekick, the paring knife, is often an afterthought in the kitchen. But it’s a very handy knife to have for precision work and when cutting smaller and soft foods, from a garlic clove up to an apple. (You’ll need to stick to your chef’s knife for hard foods like squash, potatoes, carrots, and melons.) A paring knife blade is typically between 3 and 4 inches long, and though the handle is smaller than that of other knives, you should still test it before you buy to make sure it feels comfortable in your hand.  

For Your Best Health

Cutting Calories May Boost Longevity

Calorie restriction—decreasing daily calories—without depriving yourself of essential vitamins and minerals and other key nutrients has long been known to delay the progression of age-related diseases in animal studies. New research, published in the journal Aging Cell, suggests it may do the same for people. 

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and colleagues analyzed data from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE), a study supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). For CALERIE participants, the goal was to reduce daily calories by 25%. However, over a two-year span, the best they were able to achieve was a 12% reduction. But it turns out that this was enough to rejuvenate muscle and activate key biological pathways that are important in healthy aging.

“A 12% reduction in calorie intake is very modest,” said corresponding author and NIA Scientific Director Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD. “This kind of small reduction in calorie intake is doable and may make a big difference in your health.”

The research team also sought to explain a finding of past studies: People practicing calorie restriction lost muscle mass (along with losing weight in general), but they did not lose all-important muscle strength. To understand this phenomenon, they looked at thigh muscle biopsies from CALERIE participants collected when people joined the study and at one-year and two-year follow-ups. They discovered that during calorie restriction certain genes were upregulated, meaning the cells made more mRNA, and others were downregulated, meaning the cells produced less mRNA. Specifically, a lower caloric intake upregulated genes responsible for energy generation and metabolism and downregulated inflammatory genes, leading to lower inflammation.

“Since inflammation and aging are strongly coupled, calorie restriction represents a powerful approach to preventing the pro-inflammatory state that is developed by many older people,” said Dr. Ferrucci.

Fitness Flash

Do You Have Aging Anxiety? Another Reason to Exercise!

According to Sarah Francis, PhD, Iowa State University professor and Jane Armstrong Endowed Chair of Food Science and Human Nutrition, many people experience aging anxiety—fears and concerns about losing autonomy and relationships as well as physical and psychological changes and discomfort or lack of enjoyment being around older people. “Previous research has shown that if you have high anxiety about aging, you have poor health outcomes. But if you view it more positively as a life stage, you have better health outcomes. You’re more likely to make lifestyle changes that benefit you in the long run,” said Dr. Francis.

Since 2010, she has been part of a USDA multistate project bringing together experts in physical activity, clinical nutrition, and community health programming to support healthy aging. Part of their research has focused on identifying factors that influence physical activity, such as aging anxiety. One explanation for the negative link between aging anxiety and poor health is that anxiety can get in the way of being physically active, and not being active is often at the root of many health problems. 

To better understand how aging anxiety relates not only to physical activity but also to other factors like gender, marital status, and income, Dr. Francis and the team designed a 142-question online survey and recruited a cross-section of urban, suburban, and rural participants including people as young as 40 to understand how different aspects of aging anxiety shift with age. In total, 1,250 people from Washington, DC, and six states (Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and West Virginia) responded to the survey. 

“One of the most important findings is that higher positivity about physical activity relates to lower anxiety about aging,” said Dr. Francis. “Perhaps this is because the physical, mental, and social benefits of staying active contribute to overall well-being and a more favorable perception of the aging process, ultimately reducing anxiety related to growing older.”

It’s also well known that exercise, especially strength training, helps conserve bone mass and muscle, reduce the risk of dementia, and maintain motor control. But, Dr. Francis pointed out, many middle-aged and older adults face barriers to exercising, from being afraid they’ll get hurt to not having easy access to a gym or greenspaces for walking. For those who can’t overcome these barriers, the team’s next project is developing and testing a virtual program that would include at-home physical activities and an educational component to encourage eating healthy.

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