Olive oil in nutrition
The identification of the so called “Mediterranean Diet” (MD) was carried out by Prof. Ancel Keys, through the epidemiological study known as “The Seven Countries Study of Cardiovascular Diseases” (SCS). Prof. Keys’ intuition on the possible dietary determinants of coronary heart disease (CHD) was derived from several pilot studies conducted in various countries. His impression was that the healthy diet was eaten along the Mediterranean shores of Italy, former Yugoslavia, and Greece, characterized by a large intake of bread, cereals, vegetables, fruit, and olive oil, with a small intake of meat, milk, dairy, and sugar products. The SCS was conducted across 16 cohorts of middle-aged men in seven countries (USA, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Crete and Corfu in Greece, and Japan), with assessments of usual eating habits, repeated medical examinations, and long-term follow-up. Analyses by Keys on the data from the first 15 years of follow-up indicated that low intake of saturated fatty acids (SAFA), usually derived from animal foods, was associated with the lower occurrence of and mortality from CHD, confirming the idea that a diet such as the Mediterranean Diet could be healthy. Further analyses by collaborators of the SCS, over a longer follow-up period, included the use of food groups and dietary scores of different types, confirming that cohorts with a Mediterranean Diet had a lower risk and death rate from CHD, whereas the reverse occurred in populations consuming an unhealthy diet.
[Menotti A, Puddu PE. Ancel Keys, the Mediterranean Diet, and the Seven Countries Study: A Review. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. (2025), 12(4):141. doi: 10.3390/jcdd12040141. PMID: 40278200; PMCID: PMC12027923]
The Seven Countries Study (SCS) is historically the first major scientific study to investigate diet and lifestyle in relation to cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and other health problems. It is the first cross-cultural, cross-generational and repeated population study, which put Health under the microscope, through the ethnic and geographical prism. The study involved 686 Cretans – the sample was all men, because cardiovascular diseases more often affect the so-called “stronger sex”. All of them were born between 1900 and 1919. So, in 1960, when the study began, they were between 41 and 60 years old. The participants therefore turned out to have the lowest rate of deaths from stroke and coronary heart disease, but also the longest survival time.
[Moschandreas J, Kafatos A, Aravanis C, Dontas A, Menotti A, Kromhout D. Long-term predictors of survival for the Seven Countries Study cohort from Crete: from 1960 to 2000. Int J Cardiol. 2005 Apr 8;100(1):85-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2004.08.052. PMID: 15820290]
[Hatzis CM, Sifaki-Pistolla D, Kafatos AG. History of the Cretan cohort of the Seven Countries Study. Hormones, Athens, (2015), Apr-Jun, 14(2):326-9. doi: 10.14310/horm.2002.1587. PMID: 26158658]
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has been widely used in the human diet for thousands of years, especially in the Mediterranean region. It has been long renowned for its many health-promoting properties. Modern science is uncovering how it is associated with a reduced risk of several chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and some tumors. The fatty acid profile of EVOO and bioactive compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties has been linked to protective effects against coronary, neurodegenerative, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, as well as diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease being anti-thrombotic and regulating blood pressure.
[Olive Wellness Institute, Extra Virgin Olive Oil Health and Nutrition Report, p.p. 21, https://olivewellnessinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OWI-Health-and-Nutrition-Report-Web-version-1.pdf]