Even people who start learning an instrument later in life can get significant brain-health benefits. That’s the conclusion of two recent studies.
Researchers found that older adults who play instruments have healthier brains that are better protected against dementia.
What Did the First Study Reveal?
The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, was conducted by Canadian and Chinese scientists. It involved 50 adult volunteers who averaged 65 years old. Half of them had been playing an inst…

The speed at which our bodies age and wear down doesn’t always match our chronological age. That gap helps researchers predict life expectancy and disease risk. An international team has developed a tool that estimates a person’s biological age from a single midlife brain scan.
The team built the tool using detailed health data from 1,037 people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973.
The participants’ health was tracked carefully over decades. From those observations, the researchers c…

Candied fruits do double duty: they preserve summer’s vitamins for winter and make desserts look spectacular. Strawberries, cranberries, cherries, and raspberries work best coated in a light frost, while grapes, apples, pears, peaches, bananas, lemons, oranges, and mandarins can be candied for storage. You’ll need a fine sieve or spoon, a brush, and toothpicks for this process. The ingredient quantities are based on one kilogram of fruit—feel free to adjust the amounts as needed.
Fruity Frost
I…

In summer the kitchen stove can feel like a furnace, turning cooking into a stamina test. If you want to escape that “kitchen slavery,” the aim is to simplify and speed up meal prep — freeing time to relax or work while still feeding everyone. This recipe proves the point: easy-to-make lazy cheese dumplings are energy-rich, packed with protein, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, and amino acids that support the liver and nervous system.
Ingredients: flour – 180 g (plus extra for dusting the wo…

The sweetest cherries are at their peak from late June to mid-July, making it the perfect time to start preserving them. Pickled cherries won’t just be a dessert; they’ll make a zesty appetizer or a side dish for meat or vegetable dishes. Preserving cherries this way can diversify a limited winter diet and provide health benefits. The high iron content in summer cherries boosts hemoglobin levels and can improve conditions related to anemia. Cherries have a diuretic effect, helping eliminate exc…

Fruit jelly can replace candies, cakes, cookies, pastries, and ice cream in the diets of both children and adults. This homemade dessert delivers vitamins from fresh fruits and berries and, when made with gelatin, also supplies collagen — two benefits in one. Its festive look also makes it a good way to support healthier nails, hair, joints, and bones. If you swap gelatin for natural gelling agents like pectin or agar-agar (found in plant cell walls and seaweed), it may benefit bone and cartila…