The Role of Olive Oil and its Constituents in Mental Health: A Scoping Review

This project was a scoping review where we systematically searched and summarized all the research on olive oil and its chemical constituents to understand their relationship with mental health outcomes like depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric symptoms. We screened hundreds of studies from databases and included human experimental, observational, and animal studies to map what evidence exists linking olive oil intake or its components (like oleic acid and phenolics) with mental health. We found that experimental studies generally showed improvements in anxiety or depression symptoms when olive oil was used as an intervention, though observational findings were mixed, and overall the evidence suggests olive oil may benefit mental health but that more high-quality research is needed to confirm and clarify these effects.This paper was published in 2024.  

Eedy V, Aucoin M. The role of olive oil and its constituents in mental health: A scoping review. British Journal of Nutrition. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000711452400299X