Dear Health-Conscious Friend,

It's pretty much one of my "staple" foods. I put it on every salad. I drizzle it on fish. I use it to sauté onions. And it's great to mix with balsamic vinegar and dunk a piece of bread into it. I know it's better for me than normal cooking oil! But now there's more research to suggest that olive oil could actually help prevent Alzheimer's.

Christine O'Brien reveals this new research...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. You know most prescription medication comes with awful side-effects, not to mention the “side-effect” it has on your finances. Dr Wright explains why they're so expensive...

Drizzle your way out of Alzheimer’s
Christine O’Brien
Contributor to Nutrition & Healing

It's central to the Mediterranean diet, which has links to a lower risk of stroke, heart disease and certain cancers. And its anti-inflammatory properties are already well known. But now my favourite oil is getting some new attention. Because one of the compounds found in olive oil could very well hold the key to halting Alzheimer's.

A team of researchers from the Monell Centre and Northwestern University recently discovered that oleocanthal actually alters the structure of neurotoxic proteins (ADDLs) that contribute to Alzheimer's.

These highly toxic proteins link up with the neural synapses (where nerve cells communicate) of the brains of Alzheimer's patients, where they disrupt cell function - leading to memory loss and cell death. Researchers think this binding is the crucial first step in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

But it looks like oleocanthal can keep that link-up from happening. It alters the structure of those toxic proteins - actually making them bigger, reducing their ability to bind with synapses.

Now, this research on oleocanthal is pretty preliminary - we're talking strictly lab work here. But it's incredibly promising. Because additional studies have shown that it can protect synapses from structural damage caused by ADDLs. And that it makes ADDLs a stronger target for antibodies.

Only clinical trials will tell for sure, but researchers are already saying this discovery could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.

I'll keep watching for more news on this potential breakthrough. In the meantime, I'm going to keep loading up on olive oil. Because with this news, and all of the good stuff we already know about it, there's absolutely no reason not to!

The true price of prescription drugs

Q: So, you've sold me on natural medicine. I have to admit, though - the reason I first started checking it out was purely economical. My prescriptions were just getting too expensive - why do they cost so much?

Dr. Wright: Patent medicine companies always attempt to justify the stratospheric prices they charge for their products by citing the enormous costs of research. But what they aren't telling you is that a large percentage of this cost is due to their attempts to figure out how to copy the action of the natural molecules that produced the positive results in the first place.

In order to profit from the benefits brought about by natural molecules, patent medicine companies need to make an artificial - and patentable - version of the original substance. So they chemically twist, deform and otherwise manipulate them to do a similar job. It can take quite a lot of time and resources to manipulate and, essentially, de-nature nature. That's why patent medicines are so expensive.

But you've realised what the patent medicine companies never will - that using the natural molecules to do the job that nature intended costs much less and poses much less hazard to patients in the process.