Mangia! It's for your mind!

Consumer Reports News: April 16, 2010 06:08 PM

Do you know, I never tasted olive oil until I was in college? Up until then, oil was the flavorless, colorless fluid in big plastic jugs, reserved for cooking. Margarine was the spread I was most familiar with, and shortening was used for both baking and deep frying. But olive oil? It wasn't until I moved to one of the most Mediterranean-centric areas of the country that I first met, then fell in love with that glorious golden-green elixir. And it wasn't just the oil, either, it was all those beautiful, bountiful, platters I encountered, with vegetables and seasonings with exotic-sounding names for my Midwestern ears. Bruschetta. Pesto. Arugula. Fra Diavolo.

A lot has changed in the American diet since I first fell in love with olive oil. The Mediterranean way of eating has sort of come and gone in popularity, prompted by the newest research into the health benefits of eating like a Greek (or Italian, or Turk, or….). Over the years the Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) has been linked to a lower risk of several chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

One study shows that the MeDi may have benefits for your brain as well. In a report published in the journal Archives of Neurology, researchers looked at 1393 people from a multi-ethnic community in New York over an average of 4.5 years. All the subjects used for the research underwent evaluations at the beginning of the study, and showed no evidence of cognitive impairment. They were monitored periodically for signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is considered a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia or Alzheimer's disease. During the course of the study, researchers also had the participants report on what they ate, giving each person a score on how well they adhered to the MeDi.

Now, you can see where this is going, can't you? The higher the score they got for following the MeDi, the lower their risk of developing impairment seemed to be. In fact, people with a mid-range score had a 17% less risk of developing cognitive impairment than the lowest-scoring subjects. And people with the highest scores had a 28% less risk when compared to that same group. They also saw a correlation between higher scores and a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

The study's authors speculated about four major factors associated with the MeDi that could be involved in the findings. It has been linked to lowering the risk of developing vascular problems (like hypertension, or coronary heart disease) as well as blood glucose and insulin regulation issues often associated with diabetes, and reducing inflammation levels within the body. Not to mention that a MeDi contains high amounts of antioxidants (how could it not, with all those vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, and extra virgin olive oil?).

So I will raise a glass of wine (which, in moderation is also part of a MeDi), and let the bounty of the harvest be the basis of the meals I serve my family. Hopefully those delicious dishes will help protect both my heart and my mind.

Now, if only I could remember where I put that olive oil.

—Erin Gudeux, sensory senior project leader

How Mediterranean is your diet?