Infusing more olive oil into your diet could pay big dividends for cognitive health and longevity, a new study suggests. Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other universities analyzed population health data for more than 92,000 adults over a 28-year period. The participants’ average age was 56 and none of them had heart disease or cancer.
This was the case regardless of the quality of the person’s diet. The dietary data was gathered from questionnaires; people reported their frequency of olive oil consumption. Researchers then compared that to the rate of dementia death. 'Substituting olive oil intake for margarine and mayonnaise was associated with lower risk of dementia mortality and may be a potential strategy to improve longevity free of dementia,' the researchers wrote in the study findings.
So it makes sense that consuming olive oil frequently — as opposed to those highly oxidized, processed seed oils that we find all over grocery stores — would mitigate the damage to the neurons caused by oxidative stress.' Tanya Freirich, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Charlotte, North Carolina, who practices as The Lupus Dietitian, was not involved in the study but commented on the health benefits of olive oil.
There is good, quality evidence that consuming more olive oil and similar vegetable oils and less animal fats has health benefits, in particular heart health benefits,' she said. 'It would be wonderful if a particular food could delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, but we do not have scientific evidence that these claims are true. We need randomized controlled clinical trials to evaluate whether any foods have a scientifically proven beneficial effect.
Additionally, other habits like smoking and alcohol use or health conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol can contribute to the development of dementia.' CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP It’s also important to maintain regularly scheduled doctors' appointments to manage other health risks, according to the experts. Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for additional comment. For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.