Why you should be using extra virgin olive oil

May all your oils be extra virgin—the ‘king’ of the olive oils feeds the brain.

It helps us retain our cognitive abilities, and it could also be keeping our gut healthy and promoting good bacteria, say researchers at Pere Virgili Health Research Institute in Spain.

The key is to use extra virgin olive oil; refined and processed oils could even speed cognitive decline, they say.

The researchers tested the two types of oil on a group of 656 people aged between 55 and 75 who were overweight or obese and had metabolic syndrome, a set of risk factors that increases the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. The researchers tracked participants’ diets, including their use of virgin and refined olive oil, along with detailed analyses of their gut microbiota. They also monitored changes in cognitive performance over the two years of the study.

Those who regularly used virgin olive oil saw improvements in cognitive function and had a more diverse gut microbiota, which is widely considered a sign of better intestinal and metabolic health. In contrast, those who consumed refined olive oil tended to show a decline in microbiota diversity.

Researchers also identified a specific group of gut bacteria, known as Adlercreutzia, that may be tied to these benefits. Its presence could serve as an indicator of the positive relationship between virgin olive oil consumption and cognitive function.

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