Olive Oil Intake and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: "Seek and You Shall Find"

The present narrative review focuses on the up-to-date clinical data on the correlations between olive oil consumption and cardiovascular (CV) diseases (i.e., CHD, stroke, and peripheral artery disease).

Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats, several antioxidant phenols, and other micronutrients that mediate CV-protective effects via improvements in oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, thrombosis, blood pressure, and lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. High consumption of olive oil, and in particular the extra-virgin, which is rich in phenolic antioxidants, has been suggested to prevent against coronary heart disease (CHD). The olive oil-induced cardioprotection was further supported by the findings of a very recent analysis of 2 large US prospective cohort studies showing that a higher olive oil intake was related to a lower risk of CV morbidity and mortality after 24 years of follow-up and that replacement of dairy fat, margarine, butter, or mayonnaise with the equivalent amount of olive oil significantly reduced CV risk. There is evidence for associations between olive oil consumption and lower risk for CV diseases. Both health policy makers and physicians should be aware of these associations and thus promote the intake of olive oil in both primary and secondary prevention settings to minimize individual's CV risk.