Extra Virgin Olive Oil And Alzheimer’s Disease
Oleocanthal is a type of natural phenolic compound found in extra-virgin olive oil. In laboratory experiments with mice, researchers discovered that oleocanthal helps shuttle the abnormal Alzheimer’s disease proteins out of the brain.
As background information, the researchers explained that Alzheimer’s disease rates are lower in Mediterranean countries, where consumption of olive oil is higher than anywhere else in the world.
Amal Kaddoumi and team set out to determine whether oleocanthal might help reduce the accumulation of beta-amyloid, believed to be the culprit of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Their study was published in the journal Chemical Neuroscience.
The team tracked the effects of oleocanthal in the cultured brain cells and brains of laboratory mice.
They found that in both cultured brain cells and the mice’s brains themselves oleocanthal consistently boosted the production of two proteins and key enzymes known to be vital in the removal of beta-amyloid from the brain.
The study authors concluded “Extra-virgin olive oil-derived oleocanthal associated with the consumption of Mediterranean diet has the potential to reduce the risk of AD or related neurodegenerative dementias.”
