Since Neolithic (新石器时代的) times, sculpture has been considered the privilege of men as it was assumed that women were not suited for the hard manual labor required in sculpting stone, carving wood, or working in metal. It has been only during the twentieth-century that women sculptors have been recognized as major artists, and it has been in the United States that women sculptors have shown the greatest originality and creative power. By far the most outstanding of these women is Louis Nevelson, who in the eyes of many critics is the most original female artist alive today. One famous and influential critic Hilton Kramer, said of her work, “For myself, I think Ms. Nevelson succeeds where the painters often fail.”

Her works have been compared to the Cubist (立体主义的) constructions of Picasso, the surrealistic (超现实主义的) objects of Miro and the Merzhau of Schwitters. And she would be the first to admit that she has been influenced by all of these, as well as by African sculpture, and by Native American and pre-Columbian art. Nevelson says, “I have always wanted to show the world that art is everywhere, except that it has to pass through a creative mind.”

Using mostly thrown-away wooden objects like packing crates, broken pieces of furniture, and abandoned architectural ornaments, she makes architectural constructions of great beauty and power. Creating very freely, she glues and nails objects together, paints them black, or more rarely white or gold, and places them in boxes. These collections, walls, even entire environments create a mysterious, almost awe-inspiring atmosphere. Although she has refused to admit any symbolic or religious intention in her works, their three-dimensional grandeur (宏伟) and even their titles, such as Sky Cathedral and Night Cathedral, suggest such meanings.

Now, a new study has revealed eating more ultra-processed (超加工) foods may contribute to overall cognitive (认知的) decline, including the areas of the brain involved in executive functioning (执行功能) — the ability to process information and make decisions.

We all know eating ultraprocessed foods that make our lives easier — such as prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals — isn’t good for our health. Nor is eating up all the pleasure foods that we love so much: hot dogs, sausages, burgers, french fries, sodas, cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts and ice cream, to name just a few.

Tanzi, who has written in his book The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life, said the key problem with ultra processed foods is that they are usually very high in sugar, salt and fat, all of which promote systemic inflammation (炎症), perhaps the most major harm to healthy aging in the body and brain.

“Meanwhile, since they are convenient as a quick meal, they also replace eating food that is high in plant fiber that is important for maintaining the health and balance of the trillions of bacteria (细菌) in your gut microbiome (肠道),” he added, “which is particularly important for brain health and reducing risk of age-related brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.”

Ultraprocessed foods are defined as “industrial formulations (配方) of food substances (成分) (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, and other chemical additives,” according to the study.

“People who consumed more than 20% of daily calories from processed foods had a 28% faster decline in global cognition and a 25% faster decline in executive functioning compared to people who ate less than 20%,” said study coauthor Natalia Goncalves.

“People need to know they should cook more and prepare their own food from scratch. I know. We say we don’t have time but it really doesn’t take that much time,” Suemoto said.

“And it’s worth it because you’re going to protect your heart and guard your brain from dementia (精神错乱) or Alzheimer’s disease,” she added. “That’s the take-home message: Stop buying things that are superprocessed.”