The Key Ingredient in The Mediterranean Diet

You may have heard of the Mediterranean Diet, which is a way to live longer and stay healthier. It includes eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, whole grains, breads, herbs, spices, fish, seafood, moderate amounts of poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt (almost no meat) and extra virgin olive oil. The people in Italy who eat this diet have a very low incidence of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline, plus they live longer. Many are over 100 years old. Their arteries are as supple as those of people 10 years younger than them

It’s now turning out that there’s one ingredient that’s key for the cognitive part and that’s extra virgin olive oil. The researchers have found that this type of olive oil can actually flush out tau proteins that interfere with the communication channels between cells. They are thinking that using extra virgin olive oil might even reverse Alzheimer’s and other dementias and are recommending you take 2 tablespoons per day. 

It also turns out not all extra virgin olive oil is the same. The researchers recommend making sure the bottle says extra virgin, it’s in a dark bottle and it hasn’t hit its expiration date. Finally, they suggest you want to purchase olive oil from California as they have introduced standardized testing to make sure you’re getting real extra virgin olive oil. So…bottom’s up!
(Reported AARP BULLETIN/ Real Possibilities April 2020)