If you had to pick the one superfood to rule them all, olive oil would be a safe bet: a new study has reaffirmed yet another of its many, many (many) health benefits.
Research conducted by a team from Temple University, Pennsylvania, has determined that extra-virgin olive oil boosts memory and learning ability, and protects against conditions linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is an exciting finding for us,” said Dr Domenico Praticò, a Temple professor of pharmacology and microbiology and senior investigator of the study, published in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
From the age of six months, mice were fed either a chow diet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil or a chow diet without it. (Mmm, delicious chow.) At nine and 12 months, the olive oil mice scored significantly better on tests measuring their brainpower, and examining the mice’s brain tissue revealed compelling differences between the two groups.
“Brain cells from mice fed diets enriched with extra-virgin olive oil had higher levels of autophagy and reduced levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau,” said Praticò in a statement.
To translate: autophagy (“self-devouring”) is when damaged material in a cell is broken down, promoting growth and renewal. The process promotes synaptic integrity — basically, stronger connections between the neurons in the brain, boosting memory and learning.
A reduction in autophagy is believed to mark the beginning of Alzheimer's disease, because the process clears out intracellular debris and toxins — like those amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau, both classic markers of Alzheimer’s.
Phosphorylated tau, it turns out, is responsible for something called “neurofibrillary tangles”, which are suspected of contributing to the nerve cell dysfunction in the brain.
(That was a fun science lesson!)
This kind of work on mice is a well-established method of studying Alzheimer’s. The Temple team’s future research will probe whether extra-virgin olive oil can not only prevent the disease, but also stop or reverse it once it’s set in.
Why olive oil is so darn good
Olive oil, particularly the extra virgin variety, is believed to be primarily responsible for the many health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, a way of eating that also goes heavy on seafood, fruit, vegetables, legumes and grains, and even a daily glass of red wine.
“The thinking is that extra-virgin olive oil is better than fruits and vegetables alone, and as a monounsaturated vegetable fat it is healthier than saturated animal fats,” said Dr Praticò.
The monounsaturated fat in olive oil also promotes HDL cholesterol, aka the good kind of cholesterol, in your arteries — clearing away “bad” LDL cholesterol and improving cardiovascular health.
Olive oil also tastes pretty great. Added bonus!