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ROCHESTER — Here's good news for people who want to do something to improve their health and for people who like olive oil: Consuming more than 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil a day may help to lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease and respiratory disease, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Plus, the study found that replacing just under a tablespoon a day of margarine, butter, mayonnaise and dairy fat with the same amount of olive oil is also associated with a lower risk.
Researchers analyzed more than 90,000 people and followed them and their dietary habits for 28 years.
“Our findings support current dietary recommendations to increase the intake of olive oil and other unsaturated vegetable oils,” said Marta Guasch-Ferré, the study's lead author from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.“Clinicians should be counseling patients to replace certain fats, such as margarine and butter, with olive oil to improve their health."
While this is encouraging news, researchers say more study about olive oil's connection to good health is needed.
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