Olive Oil Improves Your Memory

Improves Your Memory

It’s well known that Mediterranean diet, endorsed by countless physicians and major medical societies, and based on a diet rich in plant-based foods, may lead to many health benefits, one of which is a reduced incidence of dementia.

But whether a specific food included in the diet holds more significance has been the subject of considerable research over many decades.

Now researchers at Temple University have identified a specific food in the diet that targets the dreaded aspects of cognitive decline: extra-virgin olive oil, often referred to as EVOO, a major staple of the Mediterranean diet.

Researchers now have pinned down that the consumption of EVOO preserves memory and cognitive ability and lowers the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, which are classic markers of Alzheimer’s disease.

The research was published online last week in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

What’s truly notable about the study is that it pinpoints the exact way in which EVOO confers protection against the degenerative aspects of the aging process.

“We found that olive oil reduces brain inflammation but most importantly activates a process known as autophagy,” said Domenico Praticò, M.D., professor of pharmacology and microbiology at the Center for Translational Medicine at Temple, and senior investigator in the study.