Extra Virgin Olive Oil May Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease.

Italian researchers from the University of Florence have found that extra virgin olive oil polyphenols may prevent or delay the appearance of Alzheimer’s disease.

Mice with Alzheimer’s disease were given oleuropein aglycone, the main polyphenol found in extra virgin olive oil for 8 weeks. The results showed that dietary supplementation of oleuropein aglycone strongly improved the cognitive performance of the mice compared to the group that did not receive the olive oil polyphenol.
The scientists also conducted memory performance tests and noted that in the mouse model, cognitive impairment was completely prevented by oleuropein aglycone administration to the mice.
While it is not the first time that olive oil and the Mediterranean diet appear to protect from Alzheimer’s, this research adds more evidence that, at least in part, these benefits can be traced back to the intake of extra virgin olive oil and its main polyphenol, oleuropein aglycone.
The researchers concluded that their results support the possibility that dietary supplementation with extra virgin olive oil may prevent or delay the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease and reduce the severity of its symptoms.

Making Choices that Slow Aging Significantly

Have you heard about telomeres? At the end of your chromosomes or DNA strands, you have protective caps called telomeres (imagine the little caps at the end of your shoelaces).

The length of your telomeres can tell you either how quickly or how slowly you are aging. Telomeres also shed light on the strength of your immune system. Their length indicates your risk of death and disease, including heart disease and cancer. Having short telomeres even points to higher risk of dementia.

In people who are older than 60 researchers have shown that those with shorter telomeres are eight times more likely to die from infectious diseases and three times more likely to die from heart disease. Although all telomeres shorten with age, an unhealthy lifestyle is linked to significantly greater telomere shortening. Researchers studying telomeres believe that lifespan may be increased by as much as five to ten years by changing habits that impact telomere length. Here are the most important choices you can make to protect your telomeres.

Knock out inflammation, and eat an antioxidant rich diet.

Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress caused by free radicals sabotage health, longevity and telomere length. Eating foods that contain lots of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds helps prevent this double whammy of damage.

Be sure your diet includes abundant colorful fruits and vegetables like berries, cherries, pomegranates,  beets, oranges, and apples. And load up on dark green vegetables like collard greens and kale. Choose daily servings of orange veggies like carrots and sweet potato. And enjoy nuts, seeds, beans, fatty fish (salmon, rainbow trout, sardines), herbs, spices, 100% whole grains. Drink green or black tea and cook at low temperatures with extra virgin olive oil.

In terms of supplements, research suggests that vitamin D may improve telomere maintenance. Know your vitamin D levels by getting them checked at your annual check up. In the Sister Study, a daily multivitamin was also linked to longer telomeres in women. And of course if you don’t eat fatty fish at least twice a week, you should take a daily fish oil capsule. In the Heart And Soul study at the University of California, San Francisco involving over 600 outpatients with stable heart disease, individuals with the lowest intakes of marine source omega-3 fats experienced the most rapid rate of telomere shortening, whereas those with the highest intakes experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening. Be sure you get at least 1000 mg daily of the EPA and DHA from cold water fish. And be sure the supplement you choose is tested and found to be free of harmful levels of compounds like mercury, lead, cadmium and PCBs. My fish oil brand is Carlson Laboratories.  Disclosure: I am their Senior Nutritionist and Educator. The folks at Carlson are seriously nice people, lucky me.

Eliminate added sugar, white bread, unhealthy fats and processed meat.

Some foods slow the aging process, others put aging on the fast track. Sugar, refined carbohydrates including white bread cakes cookies and crackers, unhealthy fats particularly trans fats and high omega-6 vegetable oils and processed meats are the most harmful. Based on data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving over 5300 adults, drinking one sugar- sweetened soft drink daily accelerated aging as much as smoking. In a study of children and teens in Spain, white bread was the worst habit. In a study in Finland, involving almost 2000 elderly men and women, a high intake of saturated fat was linked to shorter telomeres.

Do whatever you must to stay at a healthy weight for your height.

At St. Thomas Hospital in the UK, obese women had telomeres that were significantly shorter than in lean women of the same age. This was not surprising. Fat cells are biologically active, and not in a good way. Fat secretes hormones that increase inflammation in the body and cause oxidative stress. ( Oh those two again!) Thus telomeres shorten, aging hits the gas pedal, and lifespans are shortened. Eat whole foods, be more active and work to reduce stress to keep your weight within a healthy range.

At the risk of being redundant. Stay active and reduce sitting time.
Moving your body several times everyday provides phenomenal health benefits, not the least of which is slamming the brakes on aging considerably. Daily activity boosts your resistance to infections, guards against chronic inflammation and helps to combat stress. You’ll get slim and you’ll be protecting the length of those all important telomeres. In one study that followed 2,400 twins, being regularly active during leisure time meant significantly longer telomeres (about 10 years younger biologically) compared to persons who were inactive.

Get up out of that chair! How much time you spend sitting also matters. In a 6 month study in Sweden, involving sedentary, overweight men and women, reducing sitting time resulted in significantly longer telomeres. Always aim for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day. Break up sitting time throughout the day and evening too. Sitting equals aging. Here’s an idea. Get up every 30 minutes and drink a small glass of water. (see what I did there?)

Watch your alcohol and never smoke cigarettes. If you smoke now is the time to quit.
Have you ever looked at people who smoke regularly or who drink excessively? They do not paint a pretty picture. They always look older than they should for their age. Heavy drinking and smoking ages you at a cellular level. The American Association for Cancer Research reported that telomere length was dramatically shorter (about half as long) in those who consumed heavy amounts of alcohol compared to those who did not. In a study reported in the UK, telomere shortening caused by smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years was equivalent to the loss of almost 71⁄2 years of life. Bottom line: don’t smoke and if you drink, do so only in moderation (one drink daily for women and two for men).

Defend your quality of sleep vigorously. Getting enough sleep (7 hours or more) and getting good quality sleep are both linked to longer telomeres. The older you are, the more significant this relationship is. Proper sleep helps repair telomeres and protects against damage caused by inflammation. Lack of sleep increases inflammation in the body significantly.

Zen extends life. If you’re chronically stressed out, anxious, lonely or depressed, your telomeres are probably shorter. If you have recently suffered a great loss, you’re also at risk. Stress hormones, like cortisol, make you gain weight around the middle, think belly fat. The hormone also damages cells and hastens aging. In a study involving healthy premenopausal women, those with the highest levels of perceived stress had telomeres shorter on average by the equivalent of at least 10 years of additional aging compared to low stress women. 

In a demonstration of all of the points made here today, a UC study found that telomere shortening was less pronounced  in high stress women if they exercised, ate well and got enough sleep. Good self-care must be a priority. 

There is also good news for meditators. Meditation also benefits telomere health. Om.

Kale Salad with Currants, Balsamic and Parmesan

Ingredients

1 large bunch or 2 small bunches kale, torn into bite size pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice from 2-3 lemons

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup currants or 1/3 cup other dried fruit

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash the kale well. Those curly leaves can be full of sand. Tear kale pieces off the main fibrous center stem. Add the kale to a large mixing bowl, season with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Massage with your hands making sure to coat the kale with oil. This will begin to break down the tough kale cell structure.

Grate the zest and squeeze the juice of the lemons over the massaged kale. Add the balsamic vinegar. Add the currants, toasted pine nuts, parmesan and toss to combine. Serve with a pinch of red chili flakes, if desired.

Get your Greek on!

Eating a Mediterranean diet -- rich in produce, olive oil and fish -- improves brain functioning and lowers the risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new review of the available research.

The review, which you can see here, was published in the journal Epidemiology. It includes 12 studies, nine of which showed an association between eating a Mediterranean diet and having lower Alzheimer's risk, improved cognitive functioning and lower rate of cognitive decline.

Missing however, were any links between the diet and development of mild cognitive impairment.

Mediterranean food is both delicious and nutritious, and the systematic review shows it may help to protect the aging brain and reduce the risk of dementia.

Other recent research has connected eating a Mediterranean-style diet with a lower risk of diabetes, longer life, and a reduced risk of heart disease.

More Olive Oil in Diet Reduces Stroke Risk

Adding olive oil to your diet may reduce your risk of stroke, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that older people who used olive oil intensively -- meaning they regularly cooked with it and used it in salad dressing -- were 41 percent less likely to have a stroke than those who rarely consumed it.

Samieri C, et al "Olive oil consumption, plasma oleic acid, and stroke incidence: The Three-City Study" Neurology 2011 See the abstract here

Olive oil is a natural pain killer...and the trees are so gorgeous!

Oh how I love this season...my roses are all leafed out and will be insane with blooms in about three weeks. The early lilacs are just starting to bloom and the olive trees are just beginning to set leaves. One of the great things about my porch in June is the fragrance of those olive trees as they flower. It is sweeter than any perfume..if only I could bottle it.

But I digress…I meant to write about olive oil…but thinking of olives had me thinking of the olive trees… OK I admit to being easily distracted by my garden this time of year.

You might wonder why we nutritionists love olive oil so much…well here are a few reasons why.

In 2005, Monell researchers and collaborators announced the discovery that oleocanthal found in virgin olive oil, is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory agent that inhibits activity of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes, a pharmacological action shared by ibuprofen. The oil also decreases production of inflammatory chemicals called thromboxanes and leukotrienes The Monell findings were published in the science magazine Nature. But the resultant control of inflammation and pain relief are only two of the benefits attributed to olive oil.

The oil also reduces total cholesterol and delivers increases in the high-density cholesterol (HDL-C), which has a protective effect on blood vessels. And polyphenolic compounds in the oil have antioxidant properties and thus protect the LDL cholesterol from being oxidized..a benefit that reduces the progress of fatty plaques occurring in your blood vessels.

With olive oil we also see improved sensitivity of cells to insulin, which helps to prevent the prediabetic state referred to as metabolic syndrome. Avoiding metabolic syndrome is an important step key to longevity, because the syndrome increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Finally compounds in olive oil have also been shown to be antimicrobial against various forms of bacteria.

Scroll down for a recipe for olive oil, lemon and garlic aioli..and enjoy. Food as medicine..what a delicious thought!