This diet can prevent death from dementia

A study suggests an increased risk of dying from dementia. A specific food can help: olive oil.

Regular consumption of olive oil reduces the risk of dying from dementia by 28 percent. It was the result of a large American study with more than 92,000 participants over nearly thirty years.

Ann-Julie Tessier of the Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and her co-authors combined data from two epidemiological studies that have been ongoing for decades: the American Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The results have now been published in the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network Open.

The experimental subjects were female nurses and male healthcare workers. Because of their high interest in such scientific studies because of their work, the failure rate is particularly low in these groups. This makes evaluation easier.

Seven grams per day

A total of 92,283 participants had a mean age of 56.4 years, and 65.6 percent were female. The observation period was 28 years (1990 to 2018). Trial subjects were not initially diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or cancer. Dietary habits were recorded at baseline and every four years thereafter. This includes olive oil consumption (zero to 4.5 grams, 4.5 to seven grams, and more than seven grams per day).

“Dementia accounted for 4,751 deaths in 28 years. (…) Consuming at least seven grams of olive oil per day has a 28 percent lower risk of dying from dementia compared to low consumption of olive oil (…)” the scientists wrote in their summary of the study. .

Also useful for those at risk

Certain genetic conditions (the body’s own production of apolipoprotein E4) increased the risk of dementia ninefold. But the apparent protective effect of olive oil was evident in this population group as well.

Experts wrote: “There is no correlation with other quality of food.” When test subjects replaced five grams of margarine or mayonnaise with a corresponding amount of olive oil per day, the dementia mortality rate decreased by eight to 14 percent.

zis/SDA