Daily consumption of olive oil may reduce risk of dementia, study suggests | Health

A study by researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) suggested that daily olive oil intake may be correlated with a lower risk of death from dementia. The results were described in an article published in the journal JAMA Network Open this Monday (6).

The researchers analyzed the diet of more than 92,000 American healthcare professionals, men and women over 28 years old, based on records of the frequency of consumption of different foods every four years. The study, which began in 1990, then measured the amount of olive oil used by respondents in food throughout their lives. If they died, the cause of death would be indicated as being associated or not with dementia.

Of 38,000 recorded deaths, around 4,751 died from dementia during the study period. Based on this number and observation of the participants’ diet, it was indicated that those who reported a higher consumption of olive oil were 50% less likely to die from dementia, when compared to those who reported not consuming it. According to the authors, eating half a tablespoon of olive oil every day causes a 28% decrease in the risk of death from dementia.

Counterpoint

However, experts in the field of nutritional epidemiology – an area that studies nutritional, socioeconomic and environmental factors that can influence chronic diseases – had reservations about the results achieved.

The first consideration made is about certain patterns observed in the diet of those who used more olive oil. Habits such as a lower intake of red meat and a greater intake of fruits and vegetables were associated with a more recurrent use of olive oil, which makes it difficult to say that it is a great ally against dementia.

“I suspect that people who eat more olive oil also eat more tomatoes, for example, although such granular data is not shown,” said F. Perry Wilson, associate professor of medicine and public health at Yale, in an article published on Medscape. “So it can be very difficult in studies like this to be sure that it is actually the olive oil that is helpful, and not some other constituent of the diet.”

The foods consumed also serve as indicators of those not consumed. In other words, as people who ate more olive oil ended up using less margarine, for example, the advantages may not be from including an item in the diet, but from excluding it. “So maybe it’s not that olive oil is particularly good for you, but that something else is bad for you,” comments Wilson. “In other words, simply adding olive oil to your diet without changing anything else may not do anything.”

Other properties

Olive oil has undeniable nutritional properties that have already been consolidated in the scientific community. Rich in monounsaturated fats, which help control cholesterol, and containing compounds with antioxidant properties, the product can play an important role in the everyday diet.

According to the newspaper The Washington Post, researchers are currently conducting intervention studies to validate causal associations and determine the optimal amount of olive oil consumption. Future research could explore the “mechanisms” by which olive oil consumption is linked to a lower risk of death from dementia.