BRB w/ Nathan P – Longevity Molecules in Food, Roasted Eggplant & This is Your Mind on Plants
The importance of polyphenols in our diets, the delicious combo of eggplant with tomatoes & yogurt, and an enlightening read on 3 psychoactive plants from Michael Pollan (#36).
Hi all,
Welcome back to BRB w/ Nathan P, your 5-min weekly dose of climate information to inspire climate action.
My mission is to make it fun, easy, and delicious to make more sustainable decisions.
Each Wednesday, I share 💥1 Breakthrough, 🥘1 Recipe, and 📚1 Book on food & climate.
💥 Breakthrough: Longevity Molecules in Food
If you’ve been hesitant to spend more on organic produce, this is your sign that it’s worth it.
It’s well-known that organic fruits and veggies do not contain synthetic pesticides, but another reason why they’re healthier will surprise you.
When plants are stressed, they produce defense molecules also warn other plants of danger. This is where the smell of fresh cut grass comes from.
Stressed plants like those in organic farms can contain higher concentrations of longevity molecules like polyphenols.
Today’s post will dive into:
Why organic is healthier (beyond pesticides)
Red wine & the French paradox
What we can learn from centenarians
Why organic is healthier (beyond pesticides)
Our bodies are highly sensitive to the food we eat, including the defense molecules plants produce. These molecules can activate the defense responses in our bodies in a process called xeno-hormesis.
This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. If our environment is under attack and nutrients might become scarce, our bodies should prepare accordingly.
Lack of synthetic pesticides is a big reason why people choose organic produce, but here’s another. A UC Davis study found that organic or sustainably grown berries contain 58% higher polyphenol content than conventionally farmed options.
Polyphenols show potent benefits against:
🦠 cancer
🍬 diabetes
🫀cardiovascular disease
🧠 neurodegenerative disease
It makes sense that organic produce would contain more of these defense molecules, as they have to fend off more pests, disease, and other stressors without the help of pesticides and herbicides.
Red wine and the French paradox
The French often eat diets that are high in fat from cheese – so how come they experience such low coronary heart disease compared to the US?
This is the French paradox – and polyphenols from wine might have something to do with it.
Red wine is high in a polyphenol called resveratrol, which has been recognized as a powerful longevity molecule by researchers like David Sinclaire at Harvard.
Resveratrol has been shown to allow people to tolerate high fat diets with fewer negative health consequences. It bioaccumulates in the body, so after 20 or 30 years of a daily glass of red wine, the health impacts are significant.
A great excuse to have an extra glass with dinner tonight if you ask me.
Speaking of red wine, I really enjoyed this light and fruit-forward Italian one yesterday. It’s an organic and biodynamic red from FUSO’s ‘Calx’ Primitivo Puglia, and one of my recent favorites under $20. It’ll pair well with this week’s recipe too.
(Not sponsored, just another delicious rec for you.)
What we can learn from centenarians
I recently watched Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones on Netflix.
It’s no secret that the quality of the foods we eat is integral to our health and lifespan, and the longest living people on Earth have realized this.
When learning more about the diets of centenarians from Japan to Greece and Costa Rica, three things stand out to me and here’s why they matter:
They eat a majority plant-based diet
Fiber is an overlooked macronutrient in our diets. Though it is low in calories, it is critical to feed the microbes in our gut that have a huge impact on health.
Our guts contain more nerves than our spinal cords, and 90% of serotonin is made in the gut. Happy gut microbes 🦠 = happy brain and happy body.
They eat colorful whole foods
Processed foods make it easy to consume hundreds of calories very quickly. With whole foods, it takes more time to consume the same amount.
Bright colors are also often indications of high amounts of anti-oxidants, like the beta-carotene that makes carrots orange. Eat your colors.
Many of them grow their own food
Gardening brings us closer to the land, helping us appreciate where our food comes from. Picked ripe, the produce will taste better than store-bought, too.
For the reasons mentioned above on organic produce, these foods are packed with healthy nutrients. If you can, grow a vegetable garden and eat local.
🥘 Recipe: Roasted Eggplant
I love eggplants and experimentation with flavor and texture variations.
This recipe calls for oven-roasted eggplants placed atop a shallot and tomato sauce spread across creamy yogurt. My mouth watered just from writing that line – excited to make another plate of these soon.
Scroll down for the recipe.
If you make it, please send pictures :)
📚 Book: This is Your Mind on Plants
Michael Pollan is one of my favorite authors. He has written extensively on nutrition and gardening, and his recent books on psychedelics and consciousness have blown me away.
This is Your Mind on Plants is an exploration of three psychoactive compounds in plants:
🌸 opium
☕️ caffeine
🌵 mescaline
The history of these compounds and how they interact with social & technological movements is fascinating.
In the 1650s, caffeine arrives to England in the form of cocoa and coffee. It led to three incredible consequences:
Habits of boiling water: beer was often consumed at work because it was safer than water thanks to the alcohol content. Boiling achieved that also, and workers being less tipsy all the time increased productivity (crazy, I know)
Caffeinated consciousness: caffeine allows us to think in focused, linear, and rational ways.
Coffeehouses: coffeehouses became rendezvous spots for great intellectuals of the time to meet and discuss.
Michael Pollan believes that the combination of the above makes it no coincidence that the Age of Enlightenment followed later in the 17th century.
I also love his willingness to self-experiment and eloquently describe his experiences.
Michael Pollan admits that quitting caffeine for 3 months was the most difficult thing he has done. He describes his first cup since as “psychedelic.”
This book made me reflect on how the compounds we consume everyday affect our consciousness. I drink two cups of coffee a day. And I often feel more like myself when I’m caffeinated than when I’ve skipped coffee.
Highly recommend this book for more context and learning more on the two other compounds.
Thank you for reading – BRB next week ✌️
🥘 Recipe: Roasted Eggplant
Ingredients (makes 4 servings):
1 large eggplant, cut into 3/4” slices
8oz San Marzano tomatoes
1 shallot
1 cup yogurt (of your choice)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Cut the eggplant into 3/4” or 2 cm slices width-wise and place on a large baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil and add a bit of the paprika, oregano, and salt until evenly spread. Bake for 30 minutes.
While the eggplant is in the oven, make the tomato shallot sauce. Place a saucepan on medium high, then add in some olive oil and the finely chopped shallot. Stir until fragrant and golden.
Add in the San Marzano tomatoes, then break them up with the spatula. add the remaining spices, stir, and let simmer for 15 minutes.
To plate, add in the yogurt at the bottom and spread on the plate with a spoon. Drizzle on the tomato shallot sauce, then top with the eggplant.
Enjoy with your besties :)
About Me
Hi there! My name is Nathan Paumier – I’m an avid reader, food enthusiast, and climate optimist. I started this newsletter after frequent questions on food tech, reading recommendations, and my secret recipes.
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