With dementia rates constantly on the rise, people are always looking for potential ways to minimize their risk. One of the most effective ways to lessen your risk of developing dementia is by adopting a healthy diet. There has been much research conducted on the subject of the link between diet and dementia. One such study focused on the link between the use of olive oil and dementia risk reduction. Around 90,000 healthcare professionals partook in the olive oil and dementia study. Let’s dive into their findings in the article below.
The Link Between Olive Oil and Dementia Risk Reduction
This groundbreaking study concluded that consuming more olive oil lowers your risk of dying from dementia. Consuming a minimum of 7g of olive oil daily was linked to a 28% lower risk of dementia-caused death. This was when compared to individuals who never or rarely consumed olive oil. Dementia-related deaths are typically hard to study because the onset of dementia is slow. However, the researchers had 28 years of follow-up data to draw from for this particular study. This was the very first study to examine the connection between olive oil and dementia mortality.
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The Participants in the Study
Spanning 28 years from 1990 to 2018, more than 60,000 women and 31,800 men were examined by researchers. Previous studies had already suggested that higher levels of olive oil in their diets resulted in lower risk for developing cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. The mean baseline for the study was 54 years of age, and none of the participants had any cancer or dementia at baseline. The researchers used death records to ascertain how many of the participants’ deaths were dementia-related. The participants were required to report their intake of olive oil on questionnaire sheets every four years. Their overall diet quality was also assessed using the alternative Mediterranean diet scale. At baseline, participants consumed 1.3 grams per day, and the amount went up incrementally over time.
Results of the Study
The researchers found that substituting five grams of mayonnaise or margarine with olive oil every day was linked to an 8 to 14% lower risk of dying from dementia. They additionally found that using butter or vegetable oils as substitutes did not yield significant results. This connection was still significant after factoring in the quality of the participants’ diet, such as whether they adhered to a Mediterranean diet. People who typically use olive oil tend to have better diets in general. However, the researchers found that the link between olive oil and lower dementia deaths existed despite their choice of diet.
Dietary Guidelines
The existing dietary guidelines regarding fats are generally based on data relating to cardiovascular health. This study adds to current dietary guidelines that recommend choosing olive oil but extends these recommendations to brain health too. There have been several studies that have noted a connection between plant-based diets and brain health. For example, as part of the Mediterranean diet, it is believed that olive oil has neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects. This is because of its high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols, and vitamin E.
Data on the Olive Oil and Dementia Study
During the course of the 28-year study, 4,751 participants died due to dementia-related causes. The association between olive oil and deaths related to dementia was far more significant for women than it was for the men in the study. In a group of around 27,000 people whose genetic makeup was analyzed, the researchers looked specifically at a gene variant called APOE4. Then they adjusted their data to account for whether or not participants had this specific variant. Despite making this adjustment, the overall results of the study remained pretty much the same. This means that having the APOE4 variant didn’t significantly change the conclusions of the study.
Why Does Olive Oil Lower Dementia Mortality?
Consuming olive oil daily may help to reduce the number of deaths caused by dementia, possibly because it improves blood vessel health. However, the study found that common health issues like high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes weren’t regarded as significant mediators of the link between olive oil consumption and lower dementia-related deaths.
Limitations of the Study
While much data has been gathered from this study, the researchers admitted that it had several limitations. This included the chance that the results might be the opposite of what they appear to be (reverse causation). Even though the results stayed the same after considering factors like socioeconomic status and other important variables, there might still be some hidden factors that influenced the outcome of the study. For instance, the participants were predominately white and the results may not apply to other race groups. However, despite these limitations in the study, we highly recommend that you try substituting your cooking butter for olive oil!
Read More: Common Mental Health Disorder May Triple Risk for Developing Dementia, Study Finds
