Olive Oil: A Lifesaver?

Olive oil consumption may not only lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but other causes as well, including neurodegenerative disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and even death from any cause (all cause mortality).

Harvard researchers looked at data that followed 60,582 women and 31,801 men for 28 years. All participants were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at the beginning of the study. A food frequency questionnaire was given to participants every four years in which they recounted, to the best of their ability, the types and frequency that they consumed various foods. During the 28 years of follow-up, 36,856 deaths occurred.

Higher olive oil intake was associated with:

• 19% lower risk of death from any cause
• 19% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• 17% lower risk of death from cancer
• 29% lower risk of death from neurodegenerative disease
• 18% lower risk of death from respiratory disease

Additionally, replacing margarine, butter, mayonnaise, and dairy fat with an equal amount of olive oil was associated with 8—34% lower risk of total and cause-specific mortality.

The aforementioned diseases may share a host of underlying mechanisms; robust research indicates that mechanisms like gut microbiome disturbances, oxidative stress, loss of insulin sensitivity, elevated blood pressure, decreased function of the lining of blood vessels (the endothelium), and threatening changes in blood lipids have negative implications throughout the body.

Olive oil’s monounsaturated fats, phenolic compounds, and specific derivatives of fat may target these mechanisms underlying chronic degenerative diseases.