Did You Know Extra Virgin Olive Oil Known To Prevent Alzheimer’s?

American researchers discovered recently that a diet rich in Extra virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - a key component to the Mediterranean Diet- can prevent memory loss, cognitive decline, and protect the brain from other conditions like:

  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Dementia
  • Memory loss

Extra Virgin Olive Oil may be a therapeutic option to prevent or stop Alzheimer's.

The article, "Extra-virgin oil improves cognition and neuropathology of three-year-old mice: role of selfphagy," was published by Domenico Pratico of Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

A study was also conducted to examine the effects of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on Alzheimer's diseases. This included phenotypes in modified mice and their essential effect on Alzheimer's disease.

Recent research has shown that Extra Virgin Olive Oil contains phenolic compounds and antioxidants which can protect brain from age-related and disease-associated oxidation. However, these studies only focus on one characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers created mice genetically modified to display the three main features of Alzheimer's disease.

  • Memory impairment
  • Amyloid plaque buildup
  • Also, neurofibrillary knots

Amyloid plaque buildsup occurs when a small fragment of a particular protein is produced in excess by the mind. This creates a buildup among neurons.

The mice were divided into two random groups. One was fed a standard food and the other was fed Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Apulia, an extra virgin olive oil that has been carefully selected by researchers for its compliance with the strict quality criteria.

After a period of six months, the mice were tested for cognitive performance.

Researchers found that mice who were fed the extra virgin olive oill rich diet showed improved spatial and working memory performance compared to their baseline performance. On examination, it was found that the extra virgin olive oil-rich mice's brains had drastically decreased their peptide levels.

It was also found that the diet reduced tau phosphorylation in the brains of mice, and improved neuroinflammation and synapse integrity with increased autophagy (the removal of harmful accumulated waste).

These are all major features of Alzheimer's disease. This study proved that Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( Extra Virgin Olive Oil ) has a positive influence. Researchers conclude that the study "supports the positive cross sectional and longitudinal data about this component of Mediterranean diet and, most importantly, the biological reasoning to suggest that Extra Virgin Olive Oil may be considered as a therapeutic opportunity to prevent or halt Alzheimer's."