2020_04_20_MED_aceite_oliva_protector_infarto

American and Spanish researchers have published the first large study that has assessed the long-term relationship between olive oil consumption and cardiovascular disease (myocardial infarction or stroke) in the US population deadline . The work, published in the journal of the American Society of Cardiology, has been carried out by scientists from the department of Nutrition of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, the University of Navarra, the University of Reus, and the CIBER of Obesity and Nutrition(CIBEROBN).

The research team, composed of recognized international experts in nutrition, found a relative reduction in heart attacks of 18 percent (confidence margin, between 9% and 27%), for each additional average tablespoon of olive oil consumed, independent of other factors.

The study analyzed for 30 years data nutritional and lifestyle data from more than 90,000 volunteers (61,000 women and 32,000 men), in which 9,797 cases of serious cardiovascular disease occurred. It was not possible to differentiate between regular olive oil and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). However, "other programs of study have found that EVOO has greater benefits in vascular prevention, presumably because of its antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and other bioactive compounds," explains Full Professor Miguel Ángel Martínez-González, professor at the University of Navarra and co-author of article.

However, the new study published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology is an argument to defend that any olive oil subject "is a great choice to replace animal and saturated fats in all culinary uses," according to this expert, a member of the CIBER on obesity and nutrition. An interesting aspect is the comparison between the different fat options. For example, replacing butter, mayonnaise or cream with olive oil effectively reduces the risk of serious cardiovascular disease.

Global guidelines for healthy nutrition

Previous research on olive oil and heart health had been conducted mainly in Mediterranean populations. "It is a joy to see that we have been able to replicate in the best cohorts in the United States the results that we have been observing for years in Spain. There can no longer be any doubt that all types of olive oil are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease," he says. It should be considered in the light of current science as "the ideal culinary fat model ," says Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, Full Professor visitor to Harvard's department of Nutrition.

In 2002 this professor led a case-control study, which already found great advantages of olive oil of any subject in preventive cardiology. "The results of that modest study were replicated by essay PREDIMED with EVOO, and are now confirmed again in the USA for all subject olive oils in the two large cohorts that are setting the world guidelines for healthy nutrition," he concludes.