Out of this world

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. A new cookbook features recipes from the most unlikely place, more evidence supporting the shingles vaccine’s effectiveness to reduce risk of dementia, and why singing is so good for you 🎤

But first our weekly poll!

Lots of people will tell you they’re taking their famous family recipe to their grave, but some people really mean it.

All around the world there are tombstones with recipes etched into them, and a new book puts dozens of them all in one place.

If you’re looking for a cookbook to give someone this Christmas, To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes may just be the one.

Rosie Grant spent years compiling the 40 recipes included in the book, including Sharon Lawrence’s snickerdoodles, Deb Nelson’s Red Lantern cheese dip, and Dr. Marty Woolf’s ranch.

Her journey started with an internship at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. shortly after the pandemic, as part of her master’s degree studies at University of Maryland. That’s when she created a TikTok account (which has over 200,000 followers today) and where sherecorded her journey to collect the recipes that found their way into her book.

Her first recipe video was posted in Jan. 2022, which she didn’t think much of at the time.

“I really didn’t think there were more than two, more than three,” she said. “And it just kind of kept growing and growing.”

You can read more about her story here.

Earlier this year Stake reported on a study that found the shingles vaccine can indirectly reduce the risk of developing dementia by up to 20% in older adults.

A follow-up study published this week in Cell found the vaccine not only has the potential to lower the risk of developing dementia, it can also slow the onset of symptoms in those who already have it.

Past studies have been hampered by the inability to control for an inherent bias: those who get vaccines are generally more health conscious in countless ways, making it difficult to determine if the shingles vaccine itself is responsible for lowering dementia.

"All these associational studies suffer from the basic problem that people who go get vaccinated have different health behaviors than those who don't," said Pascal Geldsetzer, MD, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and senior author of the new study. "In general, they're seen as not being solid enough evidence to make any recommendations on."

A policy in Wales designed to ration the available vaccines, however, allowed the Dec. 2 study in Cell to filter out that bias.

"We know that if you take a thousand people at random born in one week and a thousand people at random, born a week later, there shouldn't be anything different about them on average," Geldsetzer said. "They are similar to each other apart from this tiny difference in age.”

After seven years of observation, Geldsetzer and his team found the shingles vaccine indeed reduced the risk of developing, suffering from symptoms, or dying from dementia.

William James is often credited as being the first true American philosopher. What does he have to do with this story?

A psychologist and one of the original big thinkers to advance the philosophy of pragmatism, James is quoted often, including this gem: “I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.”

The fella was certainly onto something, but over 100 years since his passing, countless mental and physical health benefits have been tied to the act of singing.

"Singing is a cognitive, physical, emotional and social act," says Alex Street, a researcher at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research who studies how music can be used to help children and adults recover from brain injuries.

Past studies have found singing improves a person’s heart rate and blood pressure, boosts immune function, releases endorphins similarly to the way common exercise does, helps forms abnormally strong social bonds, and has recently been found to assist and maintain cognitive function as we age.

"There is a gradually growing evidence base for the cognitive benefits of singing in older adults," says Teppo Särkämö, professor of neuropsychology at the University of Helsinki. "We still know little though about the potential of singing to actually slow or prevent cognitive decline as this would require large-scale studies with years of follow-up." 

Foghat has released 17 studio albums, including eight that went gold and one that went platinum, plus a live album that went double-platinum.

The band has featured over a dozen different members throughout its 54-year history, with drummer Roger Earl the only constant throughout and the lone remaining founding member.

Part of the reason for the revolving door nature of the group is the relentless touring schedule the band has kept when active. While inactive for a decade between 1984 and 1993, Foghat played over 100 shows in the ‘70s.

The current iteration of the band will be back on the road in January for the Twang and Bang Tour.

Slow Ride was a top 20 hit in 1975 and helped drive the album, Fool for the City, to platinum status. A 50th anniversary version of the record containing a full live concert from the ‘70s was released in September.

Quizmaster’s choice

Happy Friday, Staker! It’s time for another round of trivia à la carte 🥳 

We’ve got a set of 10 random questions—the only thing connecting them is that they’ll make sense if you were born in the ’60s. So walk on down memory lane with today’s trivia!

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Monday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*