oleologist at New York City’s Eataly, painted the picture for
me: “They don’t drizzle olive oil; they pour it on.”
Mediterraneans even cook with it—contrary to popular
belief, EVOO retains much of its nutritional value even
under extreme conditions.^29 (That being said, it’s still better
to save high-heat cooking for saturated fats, which are the
most chemically stable—and which we’ll cover next.)
The so-called Mediterranean diet is often cited by
epidemiologists (scientists who study health and disease in
large populations and make associations based on the data
that they collect) as being the most protective large-scale
dietary pattern against cardiovascular disease and
neurodegeneration, and it’s been shown that higher
adherence to the Mediterranean style of eating leads to not
only better long-term health outcomes (including a robust
risk reduction for developing dementia), but bigger brains as
well.^30 But as I’ve mentioned, the major limitation of
epidemiological studies is that they are based on
observation, making it impossible to pinpoint which aspects
of the diet are causally involved in such benefits. To bridge
this gap and look specifically at the effect of foods rich in
monounsaturated fat on cognitive performance, scientists in
Barcelona began a trial that pitted a low-fat diet (still widely
recommended) against two versions of the higher-fat
Mediterranean diet.^31
One of the two experimental Mediterranean diets was
supplemented with tree nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, and
walnuts—all great sources of monounsaturated fat. The
other experimental diet was supplemented with even more