A Mediterranean The study is the finalized, peer-reviewed version of an abstract that the authors presented at the July 2023 annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it was also the first to look into whether the staple of the Mediterranean diet is associated with a higher risk of dying from the disease.
“Our study reinforces dietary guidelines recommending vegetable oils such as olive oil and suggests that these recommendations not only support heart health but potentially brain health, as well,” said study coauthor Anne-Julie Tessier, a research associate in nutrition at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Using olive oil, a natural product, instead of fats like margarine and commercial mayonnaise is a risk-free option that could lower the likelihood of deadly dementia.
A Mediterranean The average age of the research participants at the start of the study was 56. Approximately 32,000 men and 60,600 women who had taken part in the Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study between 1990 and 2018 made up the pool. While the latter study examines the same themes but for men, the former study looked into risk factors for major chronic diseases among women in North America.
Every four years, the individuals’ diets were evaluated by the authors of the most recent study using a questionnaire and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, which rates foods and nutrients according to their likelihood of causing chronic illness. An individual’s higher the better, as measured by this index.
A daily consumption of 5 grams, or 1.2 teaspoons, of olive oil was found to be connected with an 8% to 14% decreased risk of dementia-related death. The authors discovered that using butter or other vegetable oils in place of the original ones had no discernible effect.
The results involving olive oil persisted even after the scientists took into consideration the fact that participants with the APOE e4 gene, the strongest known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, had a five to nine times higher chance of passing away from dementia than those without the gene.
A Mediterranean Registered dietician Duane Mellor, who was not involved in the study, pointed out in July that the findings demonstrate an association rather than a causative relationship.
Mellor, the head for evidence-based medicine and nutrition at Aston University in the United Kingdom’s Aston Medical School, stated in a news release that “more research is needed.”
Reducing the likelihood of dementia
According to Tessier, antioxidant chemicals in olive oil have the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and directly impact the brain, which may account for the oil’s potential benefits for brain health.
“It’s also plausible that the benefits of olive oil for cardiovascular health have an indirect impact on brain health,” she continued.
Olive oil users may have generally healthier lives, even though the results were unaffected by the subjects’ overall diet quality.
A Mediterranean “People who use olive oil differ greatly from those who don’t, and it is never possible to fully account for all potential confounding factors,” according to a July news release from David Curtis, an honorary professor of genetics, evolution, and environment at University College London.
Furthermore, Mellor told CNN in a May interview that the Mediterranean diet received “only” nine points for its dietary quality assessment, which is based on the average intake of the general population.
It could be more accurate to employ a diet assessment that examines a larger number of of foods, since a healthy diet consists of more than nine items, Mellor continued.
Curtis also mentioned that vascular illness accounts for around half of dementia cases, which is another crucial thing to remember.
A Mediterranean “It would be expected that anything that improved cardiovascular health, like quitting smoking, would lower the risk of dementia,” he stated. “One would anticipate that olive oil consumption would also be associated with a lower risk of dementia, given the evidence linking it to improved cardiovascular health.”
It has been discovered that olive oil is beneficial for the heart, brain, bones, and other body parts. Olive oil is not just for cooking; it may also be used to make pesto, mayonnaise, salad dressings or vinaigrettes, and bread dips. Additionally, Mellor emphasized that eating habits play a significant role in brain function when it comes to food and mental health.
“Eating with others and staying social during mealtimes can improve our cognitive function as we age and our mental health in the short term,” Mellor continued.
Article Source edition. CNN.
