Older Bolder Mark

A Novel Thought: What If We Taught People (All People) How to Eat for Health?

June 22, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

In today’s cultural (some might even say political) soup in which we find ourselves swimming today, it seems no matter where one might turn – sports, health and wellness, finance, the food industry, education, and more (the list is potentially endless) – there’s vehement discussion about real and perceived inequalities, systematic failings, prejudice, and pain.

In the context of the work we’re doing here at Older Bolder Fitness and my prior career as a physician, I’m particularly fascinated by the discussions coursing through the medical and health and wellness arena addressing many of these issues. It goes without saying that some deeply rooted, critical issues are finally being pushed to see the light of day, and as well some of the chatter out there is simply outrageously misinformed, misdirected, and most critically – badly misses the mark of truly improving health and wellness (and perhaps even societal integrity) for all in society.

Those genuinely interested in improving health and wellness for all will be hearing much more about today’s hot topics, including health disparities for people of color, social determinants of health, the purported linkage of health and social justice, medical comorbidities and differential outcomes by race, and of late, differential COVID-19 mortality rates by race.

IMHO much of today’s discussion is long on vivid and moving recitations of problems and pathology and damned short on genuine, boots on the ground, practically implementable solutions.

In particular, today’s stodgy, monolithic medical establishment, increasingly corporate owned and managed, has become much more of a “repair shop”, utilizing often amazing technology to address the inevitable consequence of lifestyle diseases, worsened by abysmal nutrition and a dearth of physical activity. This same medical establishment has presided over the greatest decline in health and wellness of the American population in the nation’s history over the past 30-40 years, at the same time watching the cost of care explode at an alarming rate, sadly yet to be addressed by “organized medicine” or politicians of any stripe.

On one hand, you could argue the situation looks grim; on another hand, what if there were solutions at hand that could tangibly produce results within a few short years?

What If We Taught People (All People) How to Eat for Health?

If one were to believe and implement the principle that the simplest solution is most likely the right one (a permutation of Occam’s Razor, and yes I understand that his original constructs were much more complex), what if we taught all people how to nourish their bodies for health and wellness?

[An aside – if you really want to talk about social equity and justice, you’re by definition talking about everyone in said society. I get the current environment that we’re operating in these days, and that the emotional currency of the day is about people of color. That said, societal health and wellness is an all color, all race, all people issue, plain and simple. Arguments to the contrary (when it comes to societal health and wellness) are based on other agendas, agendas that won’t lead to productive solutions.]

The shockingly simple act of reducing/ceasing the consumption of refined carbohydrates, shifting to whole food carbohydrate sources in thoughtful moderation, eating moderate amounts of nourishing proteins, and eliminating the consumption of toxic, refined seed oils and replacing them with easily-proven healthier fats would improve the health (addressing many of the problematic co-morbidities you’re hearing so much about these days) of millions of people.

Add in simple exercise, walking being perhaps the simplest form of exercise available to almost everyone on the planet today, and the improvements would be even more impressive.

The savings in health care dollars expended would in all probability count in the billions in a matter of a few short years (ie, cut the number under treatment for T2DM in half in two years), and the improvement in quality of life would be immeasurable.

Empowering individuals to take charge of their own health and wellness is an incredibly powerful concept, and there’s plenty of room for adjusting best practices to address unique cultural influences. Is it truly possible? Hell yes it is. Is it likely to happen? We’ll see….

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Zucchini Jalapeño Salad

June 19, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

Now that summer is in full swing for most of the country, or soon will be, it won’t be long before we’ll all be seeing oodles of zucchini at our favorite farmer’s market or grocer.

We’ve been seeing the really good fresh, younger zucchini here in North Texas for several weeks now, and while I’d probably rather slice it thin length-wise and grill it quickly over high heat, my lovely wife is a huge fan of spiralized zucchini salads.

This past week I started fiddling around with several of our favorite salad preps and dressings, and cobbled together this Zucchini Jalapeño Salad with an Asian-inspired dressing featuring the gently sharp acidity of rice vinegar with a healthy splash of toasted sesame oil.

Throw in one or two finely diced red jalapeño or Fresno chiles and some of that delicious chile crisp from last week, and you’ve got a nifty, bright tasting, unique, and healthy as can be side or salad for your next feast with the family.

There’s not much to this one, though note in the recipe below that a little resting time is called for to let these flavors mature. And as always, given the Asian inspiration here on flavors we’ve played with adding a bit of sweetness, though at least around our table, we prefer it without.

No spiralizer? No sweat, just chop into matchsticks and go to it.

2 medium zucchini, trimmed, spiralized or cut into 3-inch matchsticks
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1-2 red jalapeño or Fresno chiles, seeded, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 and 1/2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Optional
1-2 tsp chile crisp (homemade is far better)
Up to 1 tbsp sweetener of choice (see note above)
Toasted sesame seeds as garnish

Prep the zucchini using your method of choice, place in a medium bowl and sprinkle with the 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. Note if spiralizing your zucchini, consider cutting the longer strands into roughly 3-inch long pieces. Let rest 30 minutes or so, drain, and return to the bowl.

In the meantime, combine the prepped chiles and garlic, the rice vinegar, sesame oil, 1/4 tsp salt, and sweetener of choice if using in a small bowl, whisk to combine. Set aside to let the flavors develop.

After draining the zucchini, stir in the dressing to combine well. Let it rest in the fridge for another 30 minutes or so before serving (could probably go up to 5 or 6 hours), cover if resting longer than 30 minutes.

Stir in the chile crisp right at service and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds if using.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Podcasts, Recipes, and More 17 June 2020

June 17, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

Interesting Links and Reads from the Week: Exercise, Low Carb, Omega-3s, and More

Physical activity and A-Fib: It’s Complicated. And riskier for men?

Yet another trial of low carb/high fat works. I’m shocked I tell you, shocked….

Association between omega-3 intake and muscle strength in mature folks.

Training the masters sprinter: our stride length shortens, among other things.

Longevity hack: volunteer.

Happiness and gut health is no laughing matter. The study the article is drawn from here.

COVID-19 Links from the Week

Sex differences in immune responses to COVID-19.

Could up to 60% of the non-infected population be immune to COVID-19? Maybe.

COVID-19 fact check: Infection Fatality Ratios probably aren’t what you’ve been hearing.

The CDC’s data suggests COVID-19 infection fatality rates are below 0.3%.

Are bald men more susceptible to COVID-19?

Podcast of the Week

Q&A with Brad Kearns.

Food, Glorious Food

Poisson Cru in French Polynesia.

Libby’s Chile Crisp.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Libby’s Chile Crisp

June 12, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

We’re always on the lookout around our camp for interesting sauces, spice mixes, and flavorings of all shapes and sorts to add interest to the foods we enjoy.

It really helps to have a friend “in the industry” to politely pester now and again, especially one who’s as creative as our compadre Chef Libby down in Austin. For reasons that aren’t wholly clear to either one of us, our palates align pretty damn closely, as do our tastes in recreational pursuits, namely fly fishing and other diversions undertaken on or around the water.

Libby and I were chatting several months about sauces, and I mentioned that we were looking for something along the lines of a typically sweet (make that overly-sweet) Asian chile sauce when she asked if we’d ever tried her version of a chile crisp?

For the life of me I couldn’t remember her ever sharing the recipe, one that she’d sourced years ago from Bon Appetit and fiddled with to clean up the ingredients to align more with a Primally-influenced palate.

Libby’s Chile Crisp has become probably my personal favorite table condiment of all time, displacing the ever-so-durable Tex-Mex table salsa (some might even call that a pico), a condiment that’s become increasing essential and good on just about everything I can imagine being seared, roasted, or otherwise cooked on a grill, eggs of every sort, and even vegetables (roasted or grilled in particular).

This recipe produces a rich, red slather that’s at the same time spicy (the red pepper and ginger), crunchy (the toasted shallots and garlic), with a hint of Asian-inspired flavors (the star anise, tamari, and ginger), with a soothing, flavor-infused oil to tie it all together.

Eggs will never be the same again with chile crisp in the fridge – I just had it drizzled over three chilled boiled eggs (cut in half so the just set yolks could soak up the flavor) for lunch as I finished this post in fact.

The recipe easily doubles, and you’ll get a better crisp-ing effect if you use at least an 8-inch sauce pan to spread the shallots and garlic out in a thin layer (go bigger if doubling the recipe); just watch them and don’t push them too fast. Oh, and by the way, we like it with more red pepper flakes; this is the recipe Libby originally shared with us back in the day.

3/4 cup oil of choice (we use half olive oil, half avocado)
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
1 head garlic, separated into cloves, thinly sliced
2-3 star anise pods
1 cinnamon stick
2 to 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, chopped fine
2-3 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari
Optional: 1-2 tsp sugar of choice

Combine the oil(s), prepped shallots, garlic, star anise, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan at least 8-9 inches in diameter. Place over medium heat until simmering, then reduce the heat to keep it just simmering and swirl now and again for 20-30 minutes, until the shallots and garlic have crisped and browned.

Meanwhile combine the prepped ginger, red pepper flakes, tamari or coconut aminos, and the optional sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.

When the shallots and garlic have browned and are crispy, strain into the ginger-pepper bowl, and leave the shallots and garlic to cool in the strainer (makes them crispier). When cool, stir back into the infused oil.

Keep in the fridge between uses, and yes, the recipe doubles easily (you’ll want more…).

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Podcasts, Recipes and More 10 June 2020

June 10, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

If You Only Read One Article This Week…

If you only read one article out of this list this week, read Training for “The COVID-19” by Dr. Ronesh Sinha.

Other Health (and Other) News You Can Use This Week

Kudos to the Nutrition Coalition for this one…

Single exercise session alters 9,815 blood molecules.

High levels of circulating ketones reduce cardiac inflammation and slow the progression of heart failure.

An unlikely response to the reducing saturated fats argument in an unlikely place.

Interesting thoughts on invoking Hippocrates.

Nice collection of dumbbell workouts.

Friendships matter.

On the road to a seasickness cure.

Ultra-running story: The Porta-Potty Cheat.

Podcast of the Week

Dr. Ron Sinha on the Covesity Pandemic.

Food, Glorious Food

Beer can improve cardiovascular markers?

Butter trumps margarine yet again. One of the “paradoxes” they just won’t let go peacefully away.

Curried roasted sweet potato and cauliflower salad.

Step Away from the Madness Today

June 8, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

In my six decades walking this orb, I’m not sure I remember a more tumultuous time than the past few months.

Granted, I was blissfully unaware of the news of the day during the tumult of the 60’s, another era when racial and other divides rock our Nation to the core, though with the ever-present prattle of media these days (and there’s much more to the media game today) I’m convinced these are some of the most stressful days passed on the planet and in America in particular in decades.

Complicating our ability to process all the “news of the day” is the fact that what have historically been trusted media sources (I should clarify perhaps that these comments focus on news media) have seemingly evolved into purveyors of opinion as much or more than fact, and they (pick your poison here – evidence appears to support they’re all guilty of this) overtly alter or omit key facts that would otherwise put a different spin on the story.

Add to that the reality that emotions are running raw, not just other people you might see on video rioting in our Nation’s capitol or burning Minneapolis, but people you know, interact with, and perhaps live with have been impacted deeply.

Even further muddling our efforts to sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak is the toxic venom that has infiltrated and captured so much of social media these days. One of my personal goals for 2020 was to dial back social media consumption, and I was well on the way before the world changed in late February. Dipping a toe back into social media waters, often spurred by loved ones in my inner circle, has shocked me to the core at times – the level of hatred, vitriol, and misinformation (or outright lies) expressed is astounding.

My point?

You must be very very thoughtful and careful about the media you consume these days; we all have to take a break from the onslaught of images and cascades of emotion being channeled your direction. Make no mistake, much of what you’re seeing (if you’re immersed in the media) has been crafted carefully to invoke deep emotion, and we as humans simply aren’t built to sustain that fight or flight emotional reaction level for hour upon hour, day up day.

You need a break, you need to recharge those mental and emotional batteries, and you above all must keep the physical and nutritional components of your life in fine working order to sustain the challenges each day seems to bring.

Turn your damn phone and TV off, especially in the hours leading up to bed – a good night’s sleep is imperative these days.

Get outside and play – it needn’t be a huge production: hike, bike, game night with the kids, family movie nights, have a picnic and cook at your favorite local park. Read, paint, have a music immersion day, even creative hours in the kitchen can be magical.

A core necessity of your life mission is to take care of yourself so you can take care of those you love around you; you’ll still have time to save the world when you’re called to help out. Don’t fall for the trap that disorder and chaos is the only path to the future – that’s one of the great deceptions of these days, and will be proven false as it always has been throughout history.

Rest, refresh, replenish, and serve those around you.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Curried Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Salad

June 5, 2020 By Older Bolder Mark

Like many (if not most) of you, we’ve been looking forward to a turn toward the summer season for a host of reasons this year, given the bizarre journey we’ve all been on for the past three months. Not to mention the simple fact that we all love the fun the summer season brings.

Astrological summer of course doesn’t being for another three weeks, though count me among those who sort of spiritually look at Memorial Day as the advent of summer. During all the time we lived and worked in Montana, as often as not it snowed sometime the last week of May, often in town but almost always in the high country. We’d chuckle at relatives down in Texas complaining of the early advent of summer’s heat, though now that we’re down in North Texas as I write this, with a forecast week of temps pushing 90 or better on the docket, the arrival of summer seems all the more real.

We love the summer (year round really) grilling season around our camp, and are almost always looking for great salads to accompany our favorite proteins off the grill.

I’ve been playing off and on with a roasted sweet potato and cauliflower salad for a few years now; we’ve found several flavor combinations that we resonate with, but I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of roasted and cooled cauliflower from a texture perspective. (Texture matters.)

We have a couple of raw cauliflower salads we often reach for, including this long time family favorite, so recently I stole a page from that recipe and left the cauliflower raw but roasted the sweet potatoes in this Curried Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Salad, adding in a healthy handful of roasted red peppers, crunchy celery, and red onion, along with a Southwestern themed spice array + good curry.

Leaving the cauliflower raw adds a delightful crunch, as does the celery, and crisp roasting (in a pan) the sweet potatoes adds a bit of caramelization to the equation too. This salad, like any and all you make at home, can be customized to suit your family’s tastes – for instance, in making this batch, my lovely wife had forgotten to grab a red onion on her last shopping excursion, so I just added a sweet onion (Vidalia’s are in!) instead. Next time around, I’ll probably add a tablespoon or two of capers as well….

If your schedule allows, make this an hour or more ahead of time to let the flavors meld, and my clan thinks it’s even better the next day.

1 and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 and 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp good curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne powder

4 cups cauliflower florets, cut into 3/4-inch pieces if needed
2 medium sweet potatoes, trimmed, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 cup roasted red peppers, well-drained, diced
3/4 cup celery, including tender leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, trimmed, julienned
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup avocado oil mayo
1/3 cup full fat Greek yogurt
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Garnishes: 2-3 green onions thinly sliced, more chopped cilantro, more diced red pepper

Trim and cut the sweet potatoes to size, then sauté over medium-high in avocado oil until browned and beginning to caramelize around the edges. Set aside to cool.

In a clean, dry small skillet over medium heat, toast the three seeds until fragrant (keep them moving in the pan). Transfer carefully to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Transfer to a small dish with the curry and cayenne powders.

Into a large bowl go the toasted spices, diced peppers, celery, onion, cilantro, lemon zest and juice, mayo, yogurt, salt, and pepper; stir to combine well, then add the potatoes and cauliflower and stir until evenly coated. Taste and adjust for salt, pepper, and curry.

Transfer to a serving bowl if desired and garnish using any and/or all of the garnishes.

Enjoy.