Infographic: Stress Less with Healthy Habits

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Source: American Heart Association

Character Sweet: Chiikawa Banana Pudding Cake

Filling with creamy double cream and caramel.

Six different designs of sponge cakes with “Chiikawa”, “Hachiware”, and “Usagi” that are so cute.

 

 

 

 

Some People Are Strangely Resistant to Alzheimer’s. Here’s What Makes Them Different.

DAVID NIELD wrote . . . . . . . . .

Some people have the changes consistent with Alzheimer’s without presenting any symptoms, almost as if their brains are more resistant to the condition. A new study has explored how this perplexing phenomenon might point the way to treatments.

A team of researchers led by scientists from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience looked at brain tissue samples stored at the Netherlands Brain Bank, a repository of donated brains from more than 5,000 people who died with a brain disease.

Among those thousands of samples, the team found just 12 who had been cognitively healthy prior to their death yet had clear neurological signs of the disease’s underlying pathology.

Beyond demonstrating just how rare it is for brains to avoid the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s, the small sample gave the team an opportunity to learn what might make such brains so resilient.

“What is happening in these people at a molecular and cellular level wasn’t clear,” says Luuk de Vries, a neuroscientist from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. “We therefore searched for donors with brain tissue abnormalities who did not show cognitive decline in the Brain Bank.”

This kind of resilience has been noted before, and it’s thought that both the genetics we’re born with and the lifestyle choices we make might have some effect. These different factors are tied to the development of Alzheimer’s in general as well.

By analyzing the unique combinations of hundreds of genes being expressed within cognitively healthy Alzheimer’s brains, brains of more typical Alzheimer’s patients, and otherwise healthy controls without the disease, researchers found key differences in the resilient brains related to the astrocyte cells that are involved with the clearing of waste out of the brain.

What’s more, the resilient brains seemed to be better at removing toxic proteins associated with the development of Alzheimer’s. It seems these brains are somehow better at stopping neurological garbage from building up.

Another difference was more efficient energy production in the cells in resilient brains. It’s not clear yet what’s behind these differences or how they link in to Alzheimer’s disease, but identifying what the differences are is an important first step.

“If we can find the molecular basis for resilience, then we have new starting points for the development of medication, which could activate processes related to resilience in Alzheimer’s patients,” says de Vries.

Alzheimer’s now affects some 47 million people worldwide, and those numbers are rising rapidly. We’re still not sure what combination of factors are required for the degeneration to progress, how to prevent the disease from arising, or how its damage could be reversed – but every study like this one gets us closer to some answers.

The next step with this particular research is to try and figure out why there are these differences in the production processes of resilient brains. From there, it might be possible to develop drugs that help make brains better able to protect themselves.

“It remains difficult to determine from human data which process initiates the disease process,” says de Vries. “You can only demonstrate this by changing something in cells or animal models and seeing what happens next. That is the first thing we have to do now.”

The research has been published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications.

Source : Science Alert

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Tart with Quinoa Almond Crust

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
1.75 ounces almond flour (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
cooking spray

Almond Cream

1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
2-1/2 ounces almond paste, crumbled
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsalted butter

Crema

2-1/2 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind, divided
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons thyme leaves, divided
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced lengthwise
1 tablespoon seedless strawberry jam

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Prepare crust. Spread quinoa and almond flour evenly on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 9 minutes or until lightly browned, rotating pan after 5 minutes. Cool completely on pan. Place mixture in a food processor; process 1-1/2 minutes or until almost finely ground, scraping bowl after 1 minute. Add brown sugar and 1-1/2 teaspoon salt; pulse to combine. Add egg; pulse 3 to 4 times or until mixture begins to clump (mixture will be moist).
3. Lightly press mixture into the bottom and up sides of a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 18 minutes or until lightly browned, rotating pan after 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. (Do not remove sides of pan.)
4. Prepare almond cream. Combine milk and almond paste in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Cook 2 minutes or until almond paste melts, stirring frequently with a whisk.
5. Combine cornstarch, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle hot milk mixture into egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.
6. Return mixture to pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk; cook 1 minute or until thick, whisking vigorously. Remove pan from heat; add butter, stirring with a whisk until butter melts. Place pan in a large ice water-filled bowl; cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
7. Prepare crema. Beat cream cheese and 1 tablespoon sugar at medium speed until smooth. Add whipping cream, 1 teaspoon rind, and juice, beating until mixture thickens (about 30 seconds). Stir in 1 teaspoon thyme leaves.
8. Place sliced strawberries and jam in a bowl; toss gently to coat.
9. Spread almond cream in bottom of cooled crust. Gently spread crema on top of almond cream. Arrange strawberries over top of crema. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon rind and 1/2 teaspoon thyme over top of strawberries. Chill 4 hours before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Source: Everyday Whole Grain

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Today’s Comic

 

 

 

Home-cooked Bento

The main dish is Stir-fried Chicken, Tomato and Bell Pepper with Miso.