Fatty Foods: Memory Forming Nutrition

There are those who translate “fat free” into “good for you.” The misunderstanding has a strange sense of logic, after years of hearing how eating less fat means weight loss and better health.
Eating less fat will not solve a weight problem, and depending on the lengths you go to cut fat out of your diet, could quite possibly cause more harm than good. The human body requires fat for overall health, it is essential to the absorption of minerals and protection of vital organs. The type of fat consumed holds the key to healthy living. Nutritionist and other medical professionals agree that only 30 percent of the recommended daily requirements for a healthy adult should be from fat. Those fats should be unsaturated “good fats” that are found in olive oil, canola oil, and grape seed oil.

Scientists at the University of California-Irvine, found that oleic acids in good fats are converted in the upper part of the small intestine during digestion into oleoylethanolamide or OEA that affects memory-enhancing signals in the part of the brain that remembers emotional events. The researchers hope that their work could offer a new way of treating memory related problems. The evidence also shows that oleic acids can reduce appetite, help with weight loss and lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.

Working with rats the researchers said that OEA helped animals remember where they found a nice, fatty meal. Dr. Daniele Piomelli and team discovered that OEA caused memories to be laid down by activating memory-enhancing signals in the amygdale, the part of the brain involved with emotional events. “By helping mammals remember where and when they have eaten a fatty meal, OEA’s memory-enhancing activity seems to have been an important evolutionary tool for early humans and other animals.” Dr. Piomelli said. “Remembering the location and context of a fatty meal was probably an important survival mechanism for early humans.” Dr. Piomelli added that the results might not always be helpful, while OEA contributes to feelings of fullness and well being after a meal, it could also cause long term cravings for fatty foods that could lead to obesity if eaten in excess.

Rats given OEA had improved memory retention in two tests, running in a maze and avoiding an unpleasant experience. When the OEA was blocked the rats performance in both areas declined.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said: “This is fascinating research and advances our understanding of the impact that diet can have on brain activity. When thinking about what constitutes a healthy diet, usually what’s good for the heart is also good for the head.” She added that the research suggests that fatty foods could help in the formation of longer term memories, but a healthy balanced diet is still the best advice in reducing the risk of developing dementia.

Professor Harald Hansen, of the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Copenhagen, has been studying OEA for its anti-obesity properties. He believes that clarifying the role of OEA in human food consumption will add to the understanding of the obesity epidemic. The knowledge could lead to development of drug candidates for treating morbid obesity, but OEA is not commercially available for human consumption and it may not affect humans the same as rats.

Drugs that mimic OEA are in clinical trials. It is hoped that they can mimic the effect of fat rich foods to boost memory in those suffering from loss of memory or dementia. If the drugs which are being tested could also be a solution to the growing obesity problem and contribute to cholesterol and triglyceride control it would be a great break through for many health problems.