The Mediterranean diet is associated with numerous health benefits, including a lower incidence of dementia and neurodegenerative diseases. In this new study it is shown that the consumption of extra virgin olive oil protects memory and learning ability and reduces the abnormal production of beta-amyloid, a peptide that causes many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. The amyloid beta protein aggregates into clusters that alter the communication between the synapses in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Before forming the brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, beta amyloid proteins act in fact destroying the synapses.

Lauretti, Elisabetta, Luigi Iuliano, and Domenico Praticò. “Extra‐virgin olive oil ameliorates cognition and neuropathology of the 3xTg mice: role of autophagy.” Annals of clinical and translational neurology 4.8 (2017): 564-574.