Brain inflammation can increase your risk of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s
The food you consume could be wreaking havoc on your brain health, warns one expert. The modern lifestyle might trigger an “inflammation epidemic” in our brains, with diet, activity levels, and even microplastics potentially fuelling this surge.
However, olive oil might just be the unexpected hero in this scenario. Speaking on the Zoe podcast about metabolism, Shawn Stevenson highlighted that the contemporary human is facing a brain “inflammation epidemic” due to unwanted substances entering the brain.
This, he explained, is a result of a breakdown in the blood-brain barrier. Alarmingly, brain inflammation isn’t something doctors will typically notice initially.
Stevenson elaborated: “The brain is very protective, this isn’t something that you’re going to notice per se unless you have very, very sophisticated imaging and all these different tests done. It’s just a place that we’re not looking.
“We could get into all the different reasons why, but it’s mayhem. And if people are wondering, is my brain inflamed? Chances are, yes, especially if we’re not metabolically healthy.”
The expert also proposed his own theory that future research will reveal neuroinflammation could also be triggered by body fat and that it has a “downstream effect with metabolic health”. The most significant challenge with neuroinflammation caused by diet might be how the two issues interact.
Shawn touched on an intriguing finding from recent research: “What they found was that people who had inflammation in their brain, hypothalamic inflammation, had the accumulation of more belly fat and body fat downstream and a higher level of insulin resistance. Now, here’s the catch: people with more insulin resistance and more body fat also had higher rates of inflammation in their brain. So it’s like this vicious circle that’s creating all this metabolic unrest.”
Essentially, poor metabolic health can lead to brain inflammation, which then exacerbates metabolic issues. Despite what seems like an inescapable cycle, Shawn was keen to point out one particular food that could be the game-changer: a special variety of olive oil.
“Oleocanthal-rich extra virgin olive oil. They found that it was able to reduce inflammation in the brain, specifically helping to repair and support the blood-brain barrier. One of the benefits of that extra virgin olive oil is it tends to be anti-inflammatory.”
