OLIVE OIL PROTECTS AGAINST BRAIN DAMAGE
The only cause of cellular death in any living animal is LACK OF OXYGEN!
A cell, in order stay alive, requires a constant supply of oxygen molecules.
These oxygen molecules interact with high energy bonds in glucose to produce 36 high energy molecules.
These molecules are called Adenosine- Tri-Phosphate or ATP.
Without energy, nothing moves.
Without energy there is no life.
Although two ATP’s can be made without oxygen this insufficient to maintain cellular activity.
We call the process of producing of producing the 2 ATP molecules, Glycolysis. or the breakdown of glucose without oxygen, and for a brief period in a cell activity will continue, but lacking oxygen, the cell dies.
The most dramatic form of cellular death is that of heart muscle cells that die instantly when oxygen is deprived.
If the number of heart muscle cells is so large that the heart cannot function as a pump, the person who has that heart dies.
The oxygen is carried in the red cells of the blood (erythrocytes) and when the blood is prevented from reaching the heart because of a clot or a thrombosis, or arterial wall explosion, the muscle cells of the heart can no longer live.
But, much more subtle forms of cells dying occur throughout our bodies.
These deaths are not that dramatic, because they do not involve the heart pump.
But, over time, they become noticeable and we call it “aging.”
All cellular death is bad, but the death of brain cells is the worst.
When our brain cells die, physicians use the term: “Dementia.”
The most trying form of “dementia” is that slow process of intellectual loss called “Alzheimer’s Disease” in honor of Dr. Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist who first described the syndrome in 1906.
We know very little about Alzheimer’s Disease, except that is a slowly progressive loss of neuronal function over a span of six to fifteen years.
This month, however, a group of neurologists published some very important discoveries.
OLIVE OIL AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
The new discoveries were published in the February issue of Archives of Neurology.
The article essentially stated that a group of people, approximately 1,000 in number, who faithfully followed the “Mediterranean Diet” had less damage to their brain cells than others who did not follow thisa diet.
In addition, they noted that the greater consumption of olive oil produced the least amount of injuries.
They measured the amount of olive oil consumption through the use of structured questionnaires. They measured the amount of damage to the brain through the use of MRI’s which demonstrated white areas which correlated with cellular death.
They counted and measured the white areas and discovered there were less white areas in those participants who demonstrated the smallest loss of neuronal function.
In other words, those participants who ingested the most olive oil had the least amount of neuronal damage!
WHAT IS OLIVE OIL?
Olive oil is basicsally a “mono-unsaturated” fatty acid.
Here is a description of olive oil from Wikipedia:
“Olive oil is composed mainly of the mixed triglyceride esters of oleic acid and palmitic acid and of other fatty acids, along with traces of squalene (up to 0.7%) and sterols (about 0.2% phytosterol and tocosterols). The composition varies by cultivar, region, altitude, time of harvest, and extraction process.
Olive oil contains a group of related natural products with potent antioxidant properties that give extra-virgin unprocessed olive oil its bitter and pungent taste and are esters of tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, including oleocanthal and oleuropein.”
Here is Olive Oil’s Exact Chemical Composition
Olive oil
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy
3,701 kJ (885 kcal)
Carbohydrates
0 g
Fat
100 g
- saturated
14 g
- monounsaturated
73 g
- polyunsaturated
11 g
- omega 3 fat
- omega 6 fat
3.5–21 g
Protein
0 g
Vitamin E
14 mg (93%)
Vitamin K
62 μg (59%)
100 g olive oil is 109 ml
The reader will note that Olive Oil contains Vitamin E. Also, the majority of fatty acids are mono-unsaturated; that is, there is one bond that is not saturated or closed with hydrogen ions.
We remember that Vitamin E causes platelets in the blood stream to become less “sticky” which means that blood clots are more difficult to form.
One of the most common causes of preventing blood which carries oxygen to cells is the formation of clots.
Tiny clots in the delicate tissue of the brain would cause minute cellular death. Over years, this would cause the loss of function.
In addition, the mono-unsaturated fatty acids of olive oil add nourishment to the endothelial cells of the arteries, the arterioles and the capillaries.
For anyone interested in knowing the status of his tiny arteries, all he needs is a trained ophthalmologist to scrutinize the retina’s of his eyes.
The retina is a piece of the brain. The arteries and capillaries of the retina mirror the status of the brain itself.
Your well trained ophthalmologist can describe to you, in minute detail, what the circulation of your brain looks like.
If you have been consuming a lot of olive oil, your retinas should look extremely healthy.
And… your memory, your ability to think, your behavior, and your personality, should be above average.
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