Protect your brain from Alzheimer’s… with fat?
The results of a study just conducted by Temple University scientists may well be the biggest news to date in the field of Alzheimer’s disease research.
It looks like one of the most promising preventive measures for keeping your memories intact and your brain functioning isn’t found in a pill bottle, but rather a bottle of oil — extra virgin olive oil!
That’s right — the same kind of oil you cook with, toss into a salad, and dip your bread in.
It’s a discovery so important that it could very well be a turning point in the decades-long battle to relegate Alzheimer’s to the list of defeated diseases!
This big news about the brain-protecting properties of olive oil comes right on the heels of some absurd (and dangerous!) advice being dished out by the American Heart Association.
The group just issued a “Presidential Advisory,” that says we should be switching to peanut oil and two GMO Franken-oils — soy and corn — if we want to dodge heart disease
And, as I told you just a couple of days ago, that’s about the worst thing you could possibly do for your heart.
On top of that terrible advice, the group is saying that olive oil isn’t as “healthy” as that toxic trio of fats it’s recommending.
Seriously? Well, maybe the AHA should have consulted with the Temple researchers who recently completed an experiment involving mice and extra virgin olive oil.
The mice they used were specially bred to come down with Alzheimer’s disease, so that was expected. But the researchers wanted to find out if introducing olive oil into one group’s diet could could make any difference.
And did it ever!
First, the olive oil group outshined the others when it came to tests of memory and learning ability.
Next, their brain tissue was examined, and that’s where the researchers found some really big differences.
Since these mice were expected to develop Alzheimer’s, the researchers thought they were going to see the classic damage from brain plaques and a type of protein called “tau.”
But the olive oil group exhibited healthy brain cells and fewer amyloid plaques. The researchers went so far as to say that it appears olive oil can destroy those brain-damaging substances before they build up in the brain and start the horrific downward spiral of this disease.
The lead researcher called it “an exciting finding” and a “very important discovery” — which, as you probably know, are rather strong words for a scientist!
But apparently that’s not all olive oil can do for your brain.
Just two weeks before these findings were released, UK researchers found that in a laboratory test, the main fatty acid in olive oil, oleic acid, was able to prevent brain cancer by enhancing the action of a special gene that can stop brain tumors from forming.
So, it looks like a humble substance such as olive oil can beat any of Big Pharma’s offerings in protecting your brain — hands down!
But here’s the bad news: Before you run out to stock your cupboard with extra virgin olive oil, keep in mind that a lot of the brands you’ll find in the store may be fakes. Actually, bogus olive oil is one of the oldest food frauds there is!
A study done not too long ago at the University of California found that close to 70 percent of olive oil labeled “extra virgin” really wasn’t. On top of that, they found that some of the ones tested were cut with soy and canola oil.
So, here are three ways to make sure you’re getting the real deal:
#1: Don’t buy “light” or “extra light” olive oil. You want everything this wonderful fruit (yep, olives are stone fruits!) has to offer.
#2: A good olive oil can range in color from green to gold. And it should taste, as the experts say, “vibrant and lively.” It can be bitter, but should never taste rancid.
#3: High-quality extra virgin olive oil doesn’t have to come from Italy. Other countries that have received high grades include Chile and Australia. And California has its own council and “certified” labels on some brands that guarantee you honest-to-goodness extra virgin olive oil.
“Extra virgin olive oil staves off Alzheimer’s, preserves memory, new study show” Sean Rossman, June 21, 2017, USA Today, usatoday.com
