This week on OHIS

This week on the Olive Health Information System website

The newsletter of the University of Navarra and the IOC dedicated to health

Diets rich in olive oil, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and fish—like the Mediterranean diet—have long been associated with better brain health and a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. A recent cohort study based on data from over 131,000 participants in the UK Biobank adds to this growing body of evidence. Researchers found that greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was linked to a lower risk of developing dementia. To assess this adherence, the study used two scoring tools: the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND). Both give higher scores to healthy foods, including olive oil. In this study, participants with higher MEDAS and MIND scores had significantly lower risks of dementia. Subgroup analyses showed that the protective effect of the MEDAS diet was particularly notable among older adults, women, and both obese and non-obese individuals. For the MIND diet, the benefits were seen in women, non-obese participants, and across both younger and older age groups.

Another recent cohort study adds further weight to the long-term health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, especially for people with diabetes. Using data from 5,875 individuals in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers assessed adherence to the Mediterranean diet using the alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED) index.

Participants with higher aMED scores had significantly lower rates of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality compared to those with lower scores. The study also found a clear linear relationship between aMED scores and cardiovascular mortality in men. Interestingly, higher olive oil intake alone was also associated with reduced mortality in male participants.

These findings reinforce the value of exploring the effects of the Mediterranean diet—and olive oil in particular—by sex, as the benefits may differ between men and women.

Other articles mentioned this week in the OHIS newsletter:

Olive oil

Olive oil polyphenols and the maintenance of normal HDL-cholesterol concentrations: Evaluation of a health claim pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006.

Impact of diverse irrigation water sources on olive oil quality and its physicochemical, fatty acids, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties.

Thermal extraction and characterization of pectin from semi-solid by-products of the olive oil industry.

Environmentally Sustainable Preparation of Oleuropein and Its Dialdehydic Derivatives in a Simple Pharmaceutical Formulation.

Dietary patterns

Diet and Risk for Incident Diverticulitis in Women : A Prospective Cohort Study.

Dietary patterns and their associations with body composition, cardiometabolic and bone health in postmenopausal women.

Dietary patterns and colorectal cancer risk: Global Cancer Update Programme (CUP Global) systematic literature review

Mediterranean diet

Lycopene Supplemented Mediterranean Diet Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Mice and Changes Intestinal Microbiome.