Extra virgin olive oil protects against Alzheimer's
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2025 7:29 pm
Will Olive Oil Protect Your Brain?
Both people and mice getting extra-virgin olive oil in their diets had better cognitive function. It could protect your brain as well.
Terry Graedon - August 11, 2025
https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/article ... your-brain
Scientists have found plenty of evidence that extra-virgin olive oil can fight inflammation. Now they believe that it might help protect your brain against cognitive decline or even Alzheimer disease. Epidemiologists have noted that people who follow a Mediterranean diet are less prone to cognitive decline. In one study, people eating Mediterranean-style developed less brain atrophy.
Could Olive Oil Protect Your Brain?
Q. I am of Italian origin. The cooks in our family all use olive oil for cooking.
We have many family members that have lived well into their late 90s with very few heart issues. There’s no Alzheimer disease in the family, although two or three have developed some memory problems very late in life. I feel lucky to be over 86 with no signs of heart disease, just some arthritis and a little neuropathy. I even gave my cat a tiny bit of olive oil every day and she lived to over 18.
I make a large salad for my evening meal: greens, veggies, some black beans, sliced cooked beets, hummus, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, with simply olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing. Helping me keep my weight down is a secondary benefit.
A. A study in JAMA Network Open (May 6, 2024) confirms your observations. A study over nearly 28 years of 100,000 adults found that those consuming at least 7 grams of olive oil daily was associated had a 28 percent lower risk of dementia-related death.
The authors concluded
“In US adults, higher olive oil intake was associated with a lower risk of dementia-related mortality, irrespective of diet quality.”
If you are wondering what 7 grams of olive oil looks like, it is a generous half tablespoon. There are also cardiovascular benefits of olive oil, which might account for your family’s longevity.
Previous Research on Olive Oil and the Brain:
Several years ago, Greek scientists compared the effects of a regular Mediterranean diet to a diet supplemented with two different types of olive oil (Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Nov. 10, 2020). One randomly assigned group of elders ate meals supplemented with an early harvest extra-virgin olive oil rich in phenolic compounds. Another got olive oil with moderate rather than high levels of phenolic compounds. Finally, the third group had no olive oil supplementation.
All of the volunteers started the study with mild cognitive impairment and completed cognitive tests before and after the year-long study. The results of these tests showed that the participants consuming high-phenol early harvest olive oil performed better than the other groups on almost all measures. The group that did not get supplemental olive oil had declines or no improvement on test scores. On the other hand, the group using moderate-phenol olive oil did significantly better. The significant improvement in cognitive function among volunteers getting olive oil did not change if they carried the gene APOE e4, which affects people’s risk of Alzheimer disease.
Mice Eating Olive Oil Get Fewer Plaques and Tangles:
The Greek study is not the first to suggest phenolic compounds in olive oil could protect your brain. Previously, research in mice demonstrated that extra-virgin olive oil prevented the development of beta-amyloid plaques (Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, online June 21, 2017). They also had fewer tau tangles. Brains of Alzheimer patients typically contain both plaques and tangles.
The scientists gave half the mice chow laced with olive oil for six months, starting when the mice were six months old. Those on the olive oil-rich diet had less inflammation in their brains.
Mice in this study were genetically engineered to be especially susceptible to dementia similar to Alzheimer disease. However, tests of working and spatial memory demonstrated that olive oil could overcome their genetics. The mice that consumed extra-virgin olive oil performed better in mazes at nine months and a year. Matched control mice who got plain chow did significantly worse on these tests.
Should You Include Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in Your Diet?
According to the weight of the evidence, a Mediterranean diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil could protect your brain. In addition, such a diet may well protect your heart. Not everyone enjoys the peppery flavor of the polyphenols in extra-virgin olive oil, but those who do will probably benefit.
Learn More:
If you would like to know more about how to follow a Mediterranean-type diet, you might want to read our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. It has a simple outline of the basics of the diet.
If you are more interested in how to select a high-quality extra-virgin olive oil, check out our Show 1079: What Is the Science Behind Fabulous Foods for Your Health? In it, we interview Dr. Tod Cooperman of ConsumerLab.com about which olive oil products performed well in recent tests. You may also be interested in our interview with Dr. William Aronson and Dr. Timothy Yeatman. You can find it in Show 1420: The Cooking Oil Controversy Spotlights Cancer.
Both people and mice getting extra-virgin olive oil in their diets had better cognitive function. It could protect your brain as well.
Terry Graedon - August 11, 2025
https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/article ... your-brain
Scientists have found plenty of evidence that extra-virgin olive oil can fight inflammation. Now they believe that it might help protect your brain against cognitive decline or even Alzheimer disease. Epidemiologists have noted that people who follow a Mediterranean diet are less prone to cognitive decline. In one study, people eating Mediterranean-style developed less brain atrophy.
Could Olive Oil Protect Your Brain?
Q. I am of Italian origin. The cooks in our family all use olive oil for cooking.
We have many family members that have lived well into their late 90s with very few heart issues. There’s no Alzheimer disease in the family, although two or three have developed some memory problems very late in life. I feel lucky to be over 86 with no signs of heart disease, just some arthritis and a little neuropathy. I even gave my cat a tiny bit of olive oil every day and she lived to over 18.
I make a large salad for my evening meal: greens, veggies, some black beans, sliced cooked beets, hummus, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, with simply olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing. Helping me keep my weight down is a secondary benefit.
A. A study in JAMA Network Open (May 6, 2024) confirms your observations. A study over nearly 28 years of 100,000 adults found that those consuming at least 7 grams of olive oil daily was associated had a 28 percent lower risk of dementia-related death.
The authors concluded
“In US adults, higher olive oil intake was associated with a lower risk of dementia-related mortality, irrespective of diet quality.”
If you are wondering what 7 grams of olive oil looks like, it is a generous half tablespoon. There are also cardiovascular benefits of olive oil, which might account for your family’s longevity.
Previous Research on Olive Oil and the Brain:
Several years ago, Greek scientists compared the effects of a regular Mediterranean diet to a diet supplemented with two different types of olive oil (Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Nov. 10, 2020). One randomly assigned group of elders ate meals supplemented with an early harvest extra-virgin olive oil rich in phenolic compounds. Another got olive oil with moderate rather than high levels of phenolic compounds. Finally, the third group had no olive oil supplementation.
All of the volunteers started the study with mild cognitive impairment and completed cognitive tests before and after the year-long study. The results of these tests showed that the participants consuming high-phenol early harvest olive oil performed better than the other groups on almost all measures. The group that did not get supplemental olive oil had declines or no improvement on test scores. On the other hand, the group using moderate-phenol olive oil did significantly better. The significant improvement in cognitive function among volunteers getting olive oil did not change if they carried the gene APOE e4, which affects people’s risk of Alzheimer disease.
Mice Eating Olive Oil Get Fewer Plaques and Tangles:
The Greek study is not the first to suggest phenolic compounds in olive oil could protect your brain. Previously, research in mice demonstrated that extra-virgin olive oil prevented the development of beta-amyloid plaques (Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, online June 21, 2017). They also had fewer tau tangles. Brains of Alzheimer patients typically contain both plaques and tangles.
The scientists gave half the mice chow laced with olive oil for six months, starting when the mice were six months old. Those on the olive oil-rich diet had less inflammation in their brains.
Mice in this study were genetically engineered to be especially susceptible to dementia similar to Alzheimer disease. However, tests of working and spatial memory demonstrated that olive oil could overcome their genetics. The mice that consumed extra-virgin olive oil performed better in mazes at nine months and a year. Matched control mice who got plain chow did significantly worse on these tests.
Should You Include Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in Your Diet?
According to the weight of the evidence, a Mediterranean diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil could protect your brain. In addition, such a diet may well protect your heart. Not everyone enjoys the peppery flavor of the polyphenols in extra-virgin olive oil, but those who do will probably benefit.
Learn More:
If you would like to know more about how to follow a Mediterranean-type diet, you might want to read our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. It has a simple outline of the basics of the diet.
If you are more interested in how to select a high-quality extra-virgin olive oil, check out our Show 1079: What Is the Science Behind Fabulous Foods for Your Health? In it, we interview Dr. Tod Cooperman of ConsumerLab.com about which olive oil products performed well in recent tests. You may also be interested in our interview with Dr. William Aronson and Dr. Timothy Yeatman. You can find it in Show 1420: The Cooking Oil Controversy Spotlights Cancer.