Today, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that unsaturated oil obtained from olive oil is suitable for qualified health care, and eating 2 tablespoons of olive oil a day reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
A 15-year study was conducted at Athens Medicine School University on approximately 13,000 healthy middle-aged males from Europe, Japan, and America, with seven countries participating. It was found that those who consume more mono-unsaturated fats than saturated fats are much more protective against all causes of death, especially coronary heart disease. In these countries, olive oil is the most prominent source of mono-unsaturated oils. According to this study, people that eat high amounts of monounsaturated fat have lower rate of heart disease.
In the “State of Control Study” carried out in Spain in which the diets of 171 patients who suffered from non-fatal heart attacks of the same age were compared with the diets of 171 patients who had heart attack. The results of the study showed that the risk of heart attack of those who consume olive oil in large quantities is 82 % lower as compared to those who consume olive oil rarely.
Portuguese scientists have shown that an antioxidant substance found in olive oil is the greatest protector against heart attack and tachycardia.
Fatima Paiva-Martins a scholar from University of Porto said that “Research shows that; the anti-oxidant DHPEA-EDA protects red blood cells more than any other ingredient in olive oil. These results show that the very precise health benefits seen in people who add olive oil to their diets are based on a scientific basis. In addition, the results led to the production of functional olive oils specially designed to reduce the risk of heart disease.”
A study was conducted at the Hospital Reina Sofia in Spain (Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía) with 21 participants suffering high cholesterol. Dr. Juan Ruano and et al., compared the effect of phenol-rich olive oil with the phenol-removed olive oil. Participants who consumed dishes made of olive oil with a high phenol content were found to have much better function and response in their blood
vessels.
Bisignano et al from the University of Messina in Italy studied the effects of the secoiridoids in the polyphenols in olives on microorganisms. They found in such studies that these substances in olives have a preventive effect on some microorganisms that cause diseases in the respiratory and digestive system of humans. Based on these observations, It has been suggested that it may be an important resource for the development of new antibioticsby utilizing the existing antibiotic potential in olive and olive oil.
A study was conducted in France by Jacotot (with 85 individual participants). The researcher applied diets containing different lipids in fatty acid composition (olive oil, animal fats, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil) to the two communities for 6 months. HDL-cholesterol increased significantly in subjects using olive oil, while there was almost no change in total cholesterol level. In other subjects, there was a nonsignificant reduction in total cholesterol and a minor change in HDL cholesterol. In fact, playing with dietary cholesterol has little effect on changing the amount of cholesterol in the blood. By reducing the cholesterol from food by 100 mg each day,
the blood cholesterol is reduced by only 25 mg per liter (i.e. from 2.40 g/l to 2.38 g/l).
“The small polar components of extra virgin olive oil significantly increase the resistance of LDL to oxidation” says Bruno Berra, from the Milan School of Pharmacy.
Owen et al from the German Cancer Research Center based on the findings obtainedfrom a compilation study in which they evaluated the effects of olive oil use on health, reported that the phenols contained in this oil prevent the development of some cancers (large intestine, breast and
skin) and coronary heart diseases due to their antioxidant properties.
According to the paper presented in the World Congress of Cardiology held in Barcelona, Spain, the research conducted by the experts of the Barcelona Medical Research Institute under the chairmanship of Doctor Maria Isabel Covas showed that the type of extra virginity is more beneficial to the cardiovascular system than other olive oil varieties. According to the research, regular consumption of extra virgin olive oil reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases not only with “monosaturated” fat cells, but also with antioxidants called “polyphenols”.
Budiyanto et al from the University of Kanazawa in Japan studied the effects of olive oil applied to the skin of mice exposed to cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. They divided the mice into three groups and applied olive oil to the first group before irradiation and to the third group after irradiation, while olive oil was not applied to the first group. They observed that cancer developed at much lower rates in the group that was applied olive oil after exposure to cancer-causing rays.