Feeling forgetful? Adding olive oil or nuts while following a Mediterranean diet lifestyle may help to strengthen your mind, suggests new research published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).
It is now fairly well known that the Mediterranean diet is protective against heart disease and cancers, but new research is constantly showing that the Mediterranean diet is helpful for preventing and protecting against many conditions, providing an all-encompassing way of eating that nourishes and protects, but you'll be eating this way because it's delicious, trust me.
The Mediterranean diet is coined after the foodways of the countries and cultures lining the Mediterranean Sea, from Spain and southern France all the way to Lebanon and Egypt back to Morocco. These cuisines are characterized by a heavy consumption of fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes and olive oil but light on the dairy and even less on the meat.
A fruit vendor in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: Jaclyn Omar
Due to the heavy incorporation of fruits and vegetables, the Mediterranean diet is very antioxidant-rich, and as we now know, antioxidants provide protection against free radicals and oxidative stress that can lead to a host of health conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
Oxidative stress is also one of the culprits behind age-related cognitive decline, or dementia, and population studies have reported that the Mediterranean antioxidant-rich pattern of eating slows the onset and progression of dementia.
To confirm these observations, a group of researchers from Barcelona, Spain heading the PREDIMED study, or Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea, aimed to investigate whether consuming a Mediterranean diet with antioxidant-rich foods would influence cognitive function when compared to a non-Mediterranean style diet. A group of 447 participants, healthy but with high risk of heart disease, and an average age of 67 years, were fed either a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts (30 grams/day), olive oil (1 litre/week) or a control diet (reduced-fat), over the course of 6 years, where they were then tested on 3 main cognitive measures: memory, attention and executive function, and global cognitive function.
Overall, the Mediterranean diet with olive oil and nuts scored significantly better in all follow-up cognitive tests than the non-Mediterranean diet. Bottom line: consuming a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil and nuts may improve cognitive function and delay the onset or progression of dementia in older adults.
Now, don't think that the Mediterranean diet is only good for aging minds, adopting a Mediterranean diet way of eating is beneficial at all ages, just think of it as you're getting a head start on health!
Source: Valls-Pedret, C et al. 2015. JAMA.
A vegetable vendor in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Photo: Jaclyn Omar