No one will ever think of French fries as a health food, but it turns out that eating fatty foods in moderation may not be all bad and might even be good for you. How? A team from the University of California, Irvine has discovered that oleic acids from fats are converted into a memory-enhancing agent in the stomach, reports the BBC News. High levels of oleoylethanolamide (or OEA) have been shown to reduce appetite, assist weight loss and even lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, all of which makes this an attractive candidate for a diet pill, too.
Led by Dr. Daniele Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology in the School of Medicine, the team discovered that OEA causes memories to be laid down by activating memory-enhancing signals in the amygdale, the part of the brain that is involved with memories of emotional events, reports the BBC News. After laboratory rats were given OEA, their memory retention improved in two different tests: running a maze and avoiding an unpleasant experience. But when those same rats were given a drug to block the OEA, their performance on the two tests declined.
Piomelli credits evolution for OEA's memory magic. "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," he told the BBC. "Remembering the location and context of a fatty meal was probably an important survival mechanism for early humans."
But there is a dangerous side to OEA. While it helps us feel full after a meal, it also seems to engender long-term cravings for fatty foods that could cause obesity if they are eaten in excess. The study findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
-- From the Editors at Netscape
