A study has found that about a spoonful of olive oil a day could lower the risk of dying from dementia.
The study, published in the JAMA Network Open on Monday, observed more than 90,000 adults in the U.S. over 28 years, 65 per cent of whom were female. The mean age was 56 at the beginning of the study.
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“These findings provide evidence to support dietary recommendations advocating for the use of olive oil and other vegetable oils as a potential strategy to maintain overall health and prevent dementia,” the study stated.
The study’s results showed an association of lower dementia death risk with olive oil, not a causation.
While the study admitted that higher olive oil consumption could be a sign of a healthier diet, it highlighted that olive oil could lower dementia mortality by improving vascular health. It said that olive oil can “attenuate inflammation, oxidative stress and restore blood brain barrier function, thereby … improving cognitive function.”
“These findings extend the current dietary recommendations of choosing olive oil and other vegetable oils to the context of cognitive health and related mortality,” the study said.
The authors say to their knowledge, it is the first study to investigate whether olive oil is linked with the risk of death from dementia.
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