Is Coffee, the latest antidote for aging?

You can now stop feeling guilty about the second or third cup of coffee every morning. A new study published in Nature Medicine has shown an inverse association between caffeine intake and age related morbidity and mortality.

An inverse association exist between amount of tea and coffee consumed and long term morbidity has been suggested in many earlier studies, but the mechanism about this cause and effect relationship was not clear.

The study focused on cells of coffee drinker and non-coffee drinker and found that those who consumed high levels of caffeine tend to have lower levels of inflammation.

 Inflammasomes are protein complexes that regulate expression of interleukin-1 (IL-1) family cytokines, and are central to the regulation of a broad variety of inflammatory disease processes, A culprit responsible for many things like aging, cancer, heart disease, Type 2 DM and Alzheimer’s. 

Whole blood gene expression was measured by microarray from blood samples provided by 100 young and old people. They found that as people age they show a higher activity of Inflammasomes genes associated with the production of a circulating inflammatory protein, called interleukin-1β (IL-1-beta). Older people had significantly high levels of this inflammatory protein.

They further sub analyzed the older group, and after controlling for other confounders found out that those people who consumed at least 5 or more cup of coffee per day have the lowest level of inflammation in the body. The other groups with low caffeine intake had elevated oxidative stress, high rates of hypertension and arterial stiffness. They were also more likely to die during the 8 years of follow up of the study participants.

The researchers than isolated the protein, IL-1-beta and injected it into mice. It triggered massive systematic inflammation and arterial stiffness.

They then added IL-1-beta to human immune cells in the lab, followed by adding caffeine into the mix, too. They discovered that caffeine prevented those compounds from producing their inflammatory effects.

“The more caffeine people consumed, the more protected they were against a chronic state of inflammation,” says study author David Furman, consulting associate professor at the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection at Stanford University. “There was no boundary, apparently.”

"Most of the diseases of aging are not really diseases of aging, per se, but rather diseases of inflammation,” he further added.

The study is important because it traces novel connection between aging and chronic diseases via Inflammasomes. Inflammatory high expressors and the downward spiral towards many chronic diseases awaits further research. But, interestingly high caffeine levels were found to be associated with low expressors and protective against age related morbidity and mortality.

Further studies with large sample size are underway, till then, most of us can continue drinking coffee without feeling guilt over the second or third cup in the morning. 

Island Lava Bakers Brittles- A Unique Taste of Aloha

Courtesy: Island Lava 

Crispy like a chip yet its crumbly like cookie and baked with 100% natural ingredients it’s a product unique to Hawaii. It’s a combination of a chip, cookie and brittle made with ingredients that are 100% local and tropical.

Baker’s Brittle is the creation of owner Michael Ching and interestingly it was created accidentally when after making island biscotti, the trimmings were tasted by friend and families. It was so tasty, crunchy and intense in flavor that a fight erupted over the crispy corners and edges.

The idea of Island Lava was born.

The four flavors available are Java Lava, Passion Fruit, Brownie Mac & Coconut Tree. 

Java Lava is made of Cracked Coffee, Almonds, Coconut and Macadamia Toffee; Passion Fruit is Speckled with Papaya Pineapple, Mango, Guava and Macadamia; Brownie Mac is Chocolate Chip and Macadamia; Coconut Tree is Toasted Coconut and Pecans.

Initially it was only available though Costco and Sam’s club but on November 30, 2016 Island Lava announced that it will expands distribution to other local supermarket chains like ABC stores, Don Quijote, 7-Eleven, Tesoro, Longs, Times Supermarkets and Foodland. It is also available on Amazon.

Brownie Mac Baker’s Brittle

It contains Real Kokoleka Hawaiian chocolate batter that is baked thin and crispy. It is sprinkled with crunchy Macadamia nuts and chunks of chocolate.  It can be purchased here from Amazon.

Coconut Tree Baker’s Brittle

Nothing reminds you of tropics more than the nutty, sweet flavor of coconut. The Coconut Tree Baker’s Brittle. Finely ground coconut is hydrated by soaking it in coconut milk and made into creamy, luscious batter and is topped with pecans and toasted coconut. It can be purchased here from Amazon.

Java Lava Baker’s Brittle

Nothing can compare with the aroma of Kona Coffee floating in air on leisurely holiday to the paradise on earth – Hawaii. Well, Java Lava Baker’s Brittle reminds you of your time in paradise, every time you open a bag. It contains 100% Arabica coffee crystallized and tossed with toffee macadamia and added to the brittle batter and then baked to bring out all the different flavors that hit your palate as soon as you put it into your mouth.

It is topped with generous sprinkle of toasted coconut, crushed almonds, and roasted pecans as icing on the cake. This flavor is not available on Amazon. It is only available locally.  

passion fruit.

Passion fruit Brittle 

the flavors of tropics 

Passion Fruit Baker’s Brittle

Passion fruit is native to Hawaii and has got a unique flavor. The passion fruit brittle batter is baked twice to ensure the golden-brown deliciousness. The taste is further enhanced by toppings of real mango, guava, and papaya, then finished with crunchy macadamias for perfection not found elsewhere. Buy Now.

The Valentine tree

The heart shape pods

The heart shape pods

The heart shape pods

Ahh Valentine day is here again, and it’s time to celebrate love. Markets, shops and online shopping sites are flooded with gifts of chocolate, jewelry, cards and roses. 

In Nature, it is a time when winter ends and footsteps of spring are evident everywhere. Having shed the leaves and being bare most of the winter, it’s a time for regeneration and rejuvenation of the trees.

During my walks through Ala Moana park, I came across a beautiful tree, laden with big red fruits. 

The heart like shape and red color of the fallen fruit pod on the ground, made me instantly name it ‘the Valentine tree’.

The heart shape pods

After exploring further, here are few details of the tree.

In reality, the tree is called skunk tree as during the brief flowering season it does have an unpleasant, pungent smell that can be smelled from quite a distance. 

The Latin name is Sterculia foetida. Other common names include Java olive, kelumpang, bangar and Indian almond. It is a large deciduous tree native to East Africa and Northern Australia. The leaves are large, palmately compound with five to seven leaflets.

Courtesy: UH manoa Botany deptt.

the flowers

The flowers are cup shaped, wine red in color and grow in clusters near the tip of horizontal branches. Flowering season peaks from January- March and once done they are replaced by pear shaped, attractive fruits. The fruits are segmented, green and woody, but soon turn to eye-catching, bright red color, then dry to a brownish-black. As they ripen, the fruits split open along a seam, revealing many elliptical, inch-long, pearly-blue seeds that spill out onto the ground. The open segments look a lot like woody, valentine-heart-shaped bowls.


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The seeds in the pods

The eye catching red colored pods

The eye catching red colored pods

The fruits, leaves and bark have many medicinal properties. The seeds can be eaten raw or roasted.

The skunk tree at University of Hawaii, Manoa campus is on the list of Exceptional Trees maintained by the City and County of Honolulu. The Exceptional Tree Act, was passed in 1975 in wake of rapid development on the island which led to destructions of many historic trees.

The beautiful tree 

As per the state website, “The Act recognizes that trees are valuable for their beauty and they perform crucial ecological functions.” The act mandates an approval permit is needed to prune them or do other maintenance work.

Going nuts over Hawaiian Macadamia!

 

Hawaiian Macadamia Nuts 

Besides being famous for its scenic beauty, the island of Hawaii is also famous for Macadamia Nuts. Hawaii has about 700 Macadamia nut farms that are processed at 8 processing plants. Together with Kona coffee it is one of the signature crop of Hawaii.

Whenever we talk of Macadamia Nuts, we think of Hawaii but the tree is not native to Hawaii. Its native habitat is down under or Australia, lending it it’s another common name as Australian or Queensland Nut.

Macadamia Nut flowers 

Green Macadamia on trees 

Macadamia Nuts are very expensive as they are only cultivated in few places in world. Hawaii is the single largest producer in the world.

The nut was introduced in Hawaii by William Herbert Purvis in 1881. The original tree is still standing tall and producing nuts.

Macadamia nuts grow on large, spreading, evergreen trees that reach height of 30-40 feet and starts producing fruits after 10 years and continue indefinitely. A healthy tree will produce 30-50 pounds of nuts every year.

Mature nuts fall to the ground from October to late January. The nuts are than de-husked and air dried for at least 2 weeks before they are cracked open and processed.

Sun drying of harvested nuts 

Like other nuts, Macadamias too are very high in fat content, but most of it is monounsaturated fat along with antioxidants, vitamin B1 and magnesium. They are also low in carbs and protein content.

The husk is processed to form mulch or fertilizers. Macadamia oil is also used in cosmetic industry and a variety of skin and hair care products are made from it.

Various cosmetic products from Macadamia nut oil. 

Macadamia oil is used as facial oil, moisturizer, hair conditioner and make up remover. Various brands are available in markets and available on Amazon. I particularly love Sweet Essentials  Organic Macadamia Oil.

You can buy it from Amazon here. 

Besides these, various hair masks, hair conditioner and facial cream containing macadamia oils are available in the markets and on Amazon.

The slightly sweet flavor of Macadamia nuts greatly compliments chocolate for the ultimate taste of paradise. The nuts are coated with various forms of milk, white and dark chocolates or incorporated in various food items like cookies, fudge, crunch and scones. These items can be brought on line from Amazon or company's on line stores.

Only marketed in Hawaii 

They also come in savory taste such as Maui Onion Garlic and Wasabi Teriyaki.

Various brands are available in Hawaiian markets and visitors often take them as a souvenir or gifts for friends and families. Being the pioneers in market for 40 years, Mauna Loa is still the leading brand. The company’s processing plant is in Hilo and attracts thousands of visitors each year.