Olive Oil Improves Health

Olive Oil! (Photo credit: Compton & Wright)

The New England Journal of Medicine says a diet of Olive Oil (Mediterranean) improves health. It lowers cholesterol and blood pressure. Their conclusion was: “Among persons at high cardiovascular risk, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular events.” Diet has a major impact on us. Some good and some bad. What is your diet doing for you today?

As good as pills: Mediterranean diet prohibits nothing that was recognized as food by your great-grandmother (casesblog.blogspot.com)
Mediterranean Diet Significantly Lowers Risk of Heart Attack (newsy.com)
Mediterranean Diet Reduces Heart Attack, Stroke In High Risk Groups (medicalnewstoday.com)
Mediterranean-style diets found to cut heart risks (goerie.com)
Mediterranean diet can cut heart attack risk (vitals.nbcnews.com)
Bellucci Premium Responds to Findings That Olive Oil Can Reduce Cardiovascular Risk (prweb.com)
Local Vegetables Recommended in Heart-Healthy Mediterranean Diet, Says Colle Farmers Market (prweb.com)
Large Trial Shows Cardiovascular Benefits Of Mediterranean Diet (cardiobrief.org)
Mediterranean diet cuts heart disease risk by 30%: ‘Landmark’ study provides compelling evidence that it’s the type, not the level of fat, that counts for cardio health (prn.fm)
Mediterranean Diet Beats Low-Fat For Heart Health in Big New Study (jtm71.wordpress.com)

Amy Lossie
Mar 05, 2013 @ 08:30:16

This was an association study, and as such, you cannot infer causality for the small, but statistically significant decreased incidence of heart attacks in people who ate olive oil or nuts vs. those that ate meat-based fats. The authors acknowledged this, but in your post, you are making a causal claim. Epidemiology studies by nature cannot make causal claims.

georgefebish
Mar 05, 2013 @ 09:10:44

You are correct but when you take all the data and studies (like the CDC study) on meat vs vegan diets it is conclusive. I have seen people with incurable cancer switch to a vegan diet as a last resort and be cured of the cancer. Findings of early humans stomach contents show more plants, berries and nuts than meat. This makes sense since we were low on the food chain and probably got eaten more than we ate other animals. It is only recently that we are eating so much meat and having such poor health. Works like China Study, Dr Greger’s work, Dean ornish and many others show that diet does influence epigenetics. And epigenetics does have a causal effect on health.