Amazing Olive Oil Brain Benefit, Ozempic Warning, Healthy Sleep Positions, and Handy Kitchen Scrubber
Lightbulbs & Pearls | 014
Olive Oil Diminishes Dementia-Related Death
Great news for our brains! Dr. Uma Naidoo posted the results of a recently published study that showed just half a tablespoon of olive oil per day is linked to a 28% lower risk of dying from dementia compared to no or rare consumption. Wow! I love, love, love olive oil...I couldn’t be happier!
This was no small study and shouldn’t be taken lightly. According to the study’s author, Anne-Julie Tessier, PhD, the analysis was designed to be “particularly robust,” repeatedly measuring diet and accounting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors so they could isolate the effect of olive oil consumption on dementia mortality. It became a 28-year endeavor with 92,383 participants in the United States enrolled in the Nurse’s Health Study II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. The participants reported their food habits, including olive oil, every four years and were categorized according to consumption.
The bottom line is that, regardless of genetic predisposition and overall diet, people who consumed 7 grams of olive oil per day had a 28% lower risk of dying from dementia than those with less or no olive oil in their diet. (Read that again, that’s amazing!)
Rich in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, olive oil is thought to protect the brain in various ways. Considering that our brains are 60% fat and fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules determining the brain’s integrity and ability to perform, this landmark study’s findings make total sense.
Although the benefits of olive oil have long been studied in the Mediterranean diet, this US study proves that regardless of cuisine, everyone can reap its rewards and should include good-quality olive oil in their daily meals. It’s been a staple in our home for decades, and because we use so much of it, I seem to be getting bigger and bigger bottles. It is the primary oil in all my cooking, the base of all my dressings, and even an occasional snack… sometimes I find myself simply dipping lettuce into a small bowl of oil as a treat!
Ozempic’s Crippling Consequence
You have probably heard or read rave reviews of Ozempic, the latest miracle diet drug that has taken the culture by storm. Known generically as semaglutide, it purportedly melts the weight away. However, most people are unaware that it is not, in fact, an approved diet drug. Instead, it was developed as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in obese people, and it happened to have a side effect of tremendous weight loss. Voila! It became a weight loss phenomenon.
Although I understand the allure of jumpstarting a diet or breaking a dieting plateau, I’m very leery of pharmaceutical intervention without the necessary lifestyle changes. Typically, as soon as the drug is discontinued, the weight creeps back on…and this is precisely what happens when users stop their weekly wonder injections. But something far more alarming than yo-yo dieting is happening with this class of drugs.
This caught my attention while listening to the New Frontiers in Functional Medicine podcast hosted by functional medical and longevity specialist Dr. Kara Fitzgerald. She interviewed Dr. Anurag Singh, Chief Medical Officer at Timeline, who cited a Step 1 randomized controlled trial that included body composition studies in the 68-week program. Along with tremendous weight loss is astonishing muscle loss. On average, for 25 pounds of fat loss, there was a 15-pound muscle loss, which is enormous.
The detrimental effect of this cannot be overstated. Remember, as we age, we naturally lose muscle at the rate of 3-6 pounds every ten years after 30 years of age, which accelerates even more in our 60s and 70s. Our muscles are key longevity organs that dictate the state of our health as we age and tremendously impact our quality of life. This extreme amount of muscle loss in a short period could spell disaster for a person’s healthspan unless they have plenty of years to regain their muscle or they have a robust mitigation plan.
Ironically, just as I was wrapping up this post, Rich Roll dropped his podcast, The Truth About Ozempic. In it, he interviewed Johann Hari and covered the good, bad, and ugly of these semaglutides, including potential risks for thyroid cancer and pancreatitis. Take a listen if you’d like to learn more.
The Healthiest Sleep Position
When I was pregnant, I was advised not to sleep on my back for a variety of reasons, but primarily because the weight of the baby could press against certain organs and cause circulatory issues. I became a side sleeper from my pregnancy forward.
Although that “baby” is now 17, I continue to regard sleep as a critical tool in my longevity arsenal, so naturally, any sleep-related news still catches my eye. For example, a recent clip I saw claimed that sleeping on your left side is best for optimal health. I was skeptical, so I investigated further. I found that most information points to side sleeping being better overall than back sleeping, with the left edging out the right by a nose.
Although your sleep position isn’t a cure-all for everything, it’s widely accepted that side sleeping can mitigate problems such as acid reflux and neck and back pain by keeping your spine in proper alignment (depending, of course, on your pillow). It can also help reduce sleep apnea symptoms by keeping the airways—which may collapse with back sleeping—more open.
But which side? It depends on what health issue you want to address. Sleeping on your left is recommended for pregnancy, for those suffering from acid reflux (and any other digestive issues), for people who snore, and for anyone with high blood pressure. Sleeping on your right may help with heart issues, even congestive heart failure, although researchers are unclear why.
Luckily, I sleep on my left most of the night, but if you aren’t already a side sleeper and want to try changing your position, this article has some interesting solutions that may help.
My Handy Kitchen Scrubbing Solution
In another life—preferably one that required less math—I believe I would have been a decent engineer. I am forever trying to find a better way to do something, to “build a better mousetrap,” much to my family’s dismay. (They often tell me to leave well enough alone.) For some reason, several years ago, I fixated on a usually overlooked kitchen necessity that I knew in my bones could work better… and I made a modification that has served me well.
Behold the unassuming pots/pans/kitchenware scrubber. I imagine most people reading this have some sort of scrubbing pad or pad/sponge combo in or near the sink. Me, too. And for whatever reason, I kept imagining how I’d redesign it. So, I set about solving what I saw as its fundamental problems.
First things first
I stopped using the sponge/pad combo. Sponges are notorious bacteria factories, and the internet is brimming with all sorts of countermeasures so that the bacteria doesn’t end up on your counter and, ultimately, in you. My remedy? Don’t use a sponge. They are for the birds, as my mom would say. For counters and other wipe-downs, I use my trusty washable eCloths. No job requires a sponge.
Second up
Next, I rethought the type of scouring pad I was using. The common Scotchbright was available without a sponge, so that was my initial choice…but after a while, I wondered where these bright blue fibers go as the pad dwindles. With the myriad of health issues caused by microplastics, I thought switching to sustainable, natural materials was better, so I flipped to coconut pads. So far, so good. In my experience, they are gentle enough for glass and dishes but tough enough for cookware.
The big half fix
But the biggest bugaboo for me about the scrubbing pads was their size. In my estimation, unless you are cleaning a big surface like a car that requires your whole hand, the typical kitchen scouring pad is way, way too big. I don’t use my palm to scrub a spatula or pan, so every time I used one of these oversized pads, I thought, “This makes no sense!”
The economic concern was neck and neck with the ergonomic factor. As soon as the pads get a bit grungy, I toss them and start with a new one. I loathe waste, so I always felt bad because it wasn’t necessary to toss the whole pad.
My solution? Cut the pads in half. It was love at first use. Honestly, I don’t know why these aren’t marketed. In the smaller size, the pads mold to my fingertips, which makes them so much more ergonomic. They are nimble, not cumbersome. They stow away easily. They aren’t unsightly. And now I get at least twice as much life out of a single pad.
As soon as I purchase a new batch, I cut them all in half and have a big stack for a couple of months of use.
Maybe I’ll market my own line of scrubbing pads!
