The results of the first long-term investigation on the impact of olive oil consumption in United States show that most Americans could greatly benefit from replacing saturated fat in their diets with olive oil and extra virgin olive oil.
The common causes of illness or death, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders related to brain aging, in fact, they would be reduced by up to 20 or 30%.
The research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by a team of scientists from the department of nutrition of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health studied the impact of olive oil on a large sample of the American public for the first time.
“In two large studies, people who ingested larger amounts of olive oil showed a lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never or hardly ever used olive oil,” he explained Marta Guasch-Ferre, co-author of the study.
The scientists used multivariable models to examine the results of the health study, conducted between 1990 and 2018, which involved more than 60 women and more than 31 men, all perfectly healthy. Their diets were evaluated every four years.
The researchers found that those who consumed olive oil more often had a 19% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, 17% from cancer, and 18% from respiratory disease. They also discovered that deaths due to neurodegenerative diseases decreased by 29%.
Research has shown that even a partial replacement of the daily consumption of saturated fats with olive oil can still bring significant benefits. “Replacing 10 grams of margarine, butter, mayonnaise or butterfat with the same amount of olive oil was associated with an 8-34% lower risk of total and cause-specific mortality”said Guasch-Ferre, who added, “The main message is that our findings provide further support for recommendations to replace saturated and animal fats with unsaturated vegetable oils, such as olive oil, to prevent serious diseases that lead to death".
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