Virgin olive oil: a key food for cardiovascular risk protection

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 113; no. S2; pp. S19 - S28
• Main Authors: Covas, María-Isabel, de la Torre, Rafael, Fitó, Montserrat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.04.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - analysis; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - therapeutic use; Antioxidants - analysis; Antioxidants - therapeutic use; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - immunology; Cardiovascular Diseases - metabolism; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; cooking fats and oils; Diet, Mediterranean; dietary fat; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated - analysis; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated - standards; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated - therapeutic use; dietary recommendations; Edible oils; European Union; Evidence-Based Medicine; food safety; Health risks; Humans; Ingestion; markets; Nutrition Policy; nutrition risk assessment; Olive Oil; phenolic compounds; Phenols; Phenols - analysis; Phenols - therapeutic use; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - standards; Plant Oils - therapeutic use; Prevention; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Risk; Risk Factors; virgin olive oil; polyphenols; tyrosol; hydroxytyrosol; cardiovascular risk; Virgin olive oil
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114515000136

Olive oil is considered to be one of the most healthy dietary fats. However, several types of olive oils are present in the market. A key question for the consumer is: What of the olive oils is the best when concerning nutritional purposes? With the data available at present, the answer is: the Virgin Olive Oil (VOO), rich in phenolic compounds. On November 2011, the European Food Safety Authority released a claim concerning the benefits of daily ingestion of olive oil rich in phenolic compounds, such as VOO. In this review, we summarised the key work that has provided the evidence of the benefits of VOO consumption on other types of edible oils, even olive oils. We focused on data from randomised, controlled human studies, which are capable of providing the evidence of Level I that is required for performing nutritional recommendations at population level.