Persons who consumed more than half tablespoon of olive oil every day reduced their risk of dying due to heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and neurodegenerative disease, says a study recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Substituting foods containing saturated fats such as butter, margarine with healthy fats like olive oil also decreased the risk of death.

This study examined the impact of olive oil consumption on mortality in 60,582 women from the Nurses Health Study (1990-2018) and 31,801 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1990-2018). All the participants were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at the time of their enrolment in the studies. The participants were required to furnish information about types of foods, use of olive oil and other vegetable oils, butter, margarine, dairy fat, in a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, every 4 years during 28 years of follow-up. Intake of olive oil was categorized as: Never or <1 time in a month, >0 to ≤4.5 grams/day (>0 to ≤1 teaspoon), >4.5 to ≤7 grams/day (>1 teaspoon to ≤1/2 tablespoon) and >7 grams/day (>1/2 tablespoon). One tablespoon was equivalent to 13.5 grams of olive oil.

A total of 36,856 deaths occurred during the follow up period; 22,768 in the Nurses Health Study and 14,076 in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Results reported showed a change in the consumption of olive oil and margarine. While intake of olive oil increased from 1.6 g daily in 1990 to about 4 g daily in 2010, the intake of margarine declined from 12 g in a day in 1990 to about 4 g daily in 2010.

During follow-up, it was observed that consumption of more than 7 g of olive oil in a day was associated with  19% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR: 0.81) compared to those who rarely or never consumed olive oil. A 17% reduction in the risk of cancer-related mortality (HR: 0.83), 29% reduction in risk of death from neurodegenerative disease (HR: 0.71) and an 18% lower risk of dying from respiratory disease (HR: 0.82) was also seen in this group of patients.

When 10 grams/day of margarine, butter, mayonnaise and dairy fat were substituted with olive oil, the total and cause-specific mortality reduced by 8-34%. But, no significant associations were observed when olive oil was replaced by other vegetable oils.

Persons who consumed higher amounts of olive oil were more physically active and less likely to be smokers; they also ate more fruits and vegetables.

This study has demonstrated the beneficial effects of intake of olive oil on risk of death due to any cause. Although the findings do not establish causality, they reiterate the need to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains along with healthy oils such as olive oil and other unsaturated plant-based oils in diet. Avoid eating processed foods. This modification in diet must be complemented by other lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activity, quitting smoking.

Reference

1. Marta Guasch-Ferré, et al. Consumption of olive oil and risk of total and cause-specific mortality among U.S. adults. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Jan;79(2):101–112.