MEDICAL NEWS TODAY – Opting for olive oil could reduce your risk of fatal dementia, according to a new study.
Participants who included half a tablespoon of olive oil in their daily diet were 28% less likely to die of dementia.
The study authors found that replacing a single teaspoon of margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil reduced the risk of fatal dementia by 8–14%.
Researchers have observed an association between daily consumption of olive oil — instead of margarine or mayonnaise — and a reduced risk of dying from dementia.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source, there are over 55 million people living with dementia globally. There are an estimated 10 million new cases yearly, and dementia is also the seventh leading cause of death among older adults.
“Research found that the association of olive oil with a lower risk of death from dementia persisted regardless of diet quality, including how closely people adhered to the Mediterranean diet.”
The leading form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which affects an estimated 6.7 million people over the age of 65 in the United States.
According to a news release, the new study found that people who consumed half a tablespoon of olive oil daily had a 28% reduced risk of dying from dementia compared to people who did not use olive oil.
The study analyzed health records from 1990 to 2018 for 60,582 females and 31,801 malesTrusted Source free of cardiovascular disease or cancer. Their health was followed for 28 years.
Replacing just a single teaspoon of margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil was associated with an 8–14% reduced risk of dying from dementia, according to the study authors.
The established healthfulness of the Mediterranean diet provided the inspiration for the study, said study author Dr. Anne-Julie Tessier, a registered dietitian and nutrition research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“Given that olive oil is the primary source of added fat in a typical Mediterranean diet, we were interested in examining its association with fatal dementia,” Dr. Tessier told Medical News Today … READ MORE.
