Daily spoonful of olive oil linked to 28 percent lower risk of death from dementia

A spoonful of olive oil a day could help keep dementia at bay, according to a new study. From observations of nearly 100,000 adults over age 28, researchers found that consuming more than 7 ounces of olive oil per day was associated with a 28 percent lower risk of dementia-related death, regardless of what else people ate.

Olive oil is a famous part of the Mediterranean diet, which has long been touted as beneficial for many aspects of health. It’s also showing up in other lifestyle plans, like the Mediterranean diet’s northern cousin, the Atlantic diet, especially since the focus in the nutrition world has shifted from the low-fat obsession that characterized much of the 20 years.^e century.

But can olive oil be good not only for our bodies, but also for our brains?

A total of 92,383 participants took part in the study, with an average age of 56.4 years. All participants were adult US medical professionals enrolled in one of two large cohort studies, one launched in 1976 and the other in 1986. Participants were sent periodic questionnaires, but information on olive oil consumption specifically was only beginning to be collected. in 1990.

The final data set included 60,582 women and 31,801 men, after excluding those with incomplete information and those who already had a history of cardiovascular disease or cancer. During 28 years of follow-up, 4,751 dementia-related deaths were recorded.

The risk of dying from dementia was found to be 28 percent lower in those who drank more than 7 grams of olive oil daily – the equivalent of about half a tablespoon – compared to people who rarely or never consumed it. Surprisingly, what people ate the rest of the time didn’t seem to make a huge difference.

“Typically, people who use olive oil for cooking or as a dressing have better overall diet quality, but interestingly we found that the association holds regardless of this factor,” first author Dr. Anne-Julie Tessier told Healthline when the findings were announced. presented at a conference last year.

The study did show that there might be a benefit to replacing a small portion of margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil each day (although personally we’d probably stick with mayonnaise for dipping fries). “These findings extend current dietary recommendations of choosing olive oil and other vegetable oils to the context of cognitive health and associated mortality,” the study concludes.

In studies like this, it’s important to understand exactly what the data shows. “This is an observational study, so it doesn’t show direct cause and effect,” registered dietitian nutritionist Anne Danahy, who was not involved in the study, explained to Medical News Today. In a recent episode of the series Impact factor For Medscape, Yale’s Dr. F. Perry Wilson explained in detail why the study’s results should be interpreted with caution.

In short, we can’t say with certainty from this data that eating a certain amount of olive oil will directly reduce the risk of dying from dementia, but we can say that the two things appear to be related.

A balanced diet includes a mix of oils for different purposes, but olive oil is a good all-rounder. Many dietetics professionals already recommend it as a source of unsaturated fat due to its link to good heart health, and now this major study suggests that these benefits could also extend to the brain. If you can get your hands on some – and let’s face it, in this economy that’s no joke – it probably wouldn’t hurt to eat some more.

Just ask any Italians in your life.

The research has been published in JAMA Network Open.