There are numerous studies that talk about the benefits of good fats to the body, including to the heart. Good fats, which are typically the monounsaturated fats may play a role to the brain, especially for the memory. Researchers have established that link in a new study that focused on women. The study, performed by a research team at Brigham and Women's Hospital found that women who ate the most of the bad fats, including trans fats and saturated fats were the most likely to show poor scores on memory tests and brain functions over a four year period. Women who ate the most of the better fats also performed better on those same tests.

Saturated fats typically come from animal products. Monounsaturated fats include healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and fatty fishes. In the study, researchers found that the total amount of fat that was being consumed during the day did not have as much of an effect on brain and memory health as the type of the fat did. However, researchers cautioned that that did not mean that calories or total fat did not count.

The study, which was published in the Annals of Neurology used information from women who were participating in the Women's Health Study. More than six thousand women took part in that ongoing, multi-year research study that covered a number of health topics. The women, all age forty five or older were given a number of baseline, cognitive tests at the beginning of the study and then tested every two years afterward to monitor any changes that might occur. The results of this testing was not surprising to the researchers because it echoed results from another study. That study, published in 2011 in the journal, Neurology found that people who ate the most trans fats or had the highest level of trans fat in their bloodstreams were also the most likely to do worse on those same types of cognitive tests. Those people were also the most likely to have a marked decrease in overall brain volume.

The study did not compare results for men to see if their consumption of good fats provided brain function protection or not. It also did not establish a reason for the memory and cognition protection of monounsaturated fats. Researchers will now look for that link, trying to better understand how healthy fats act inside of the body and what makes them so much more beneficial than other types of fats.