Three tablespoons of olive oil a day reduce the risk of death from cancer, as well as reducing cardiovascular risk. This was revealed by the results of a study conducted by the Joint Platform Umberto Veronesi ETS Foundation – Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the IRCCS Neuromed of Pozzilli (IS), in collaboration with the Clinica Mediterranea Cardiocentro of Naples and the LUM “Giuseppe Degennaro” University of Casamassima, in the province of Bari.
The research, carried out within the UMBERTO Project and published on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed the data of approximately 23 thousand Italian adult women and men from the Moli-sani epidemiological study. The researchers followed all the participants for over 12 years, for whom information was available on food consumption, as well as on their health status.
“The benefits of consuming olive oil are widely documented in the literature, especially in relation to cardiovascular health – says Emilia Ruggiero, first author of the study and researcher at IRCCS Neuromed – However, little is still known about the effects of olive oil in relation to tumors, and most of the available data comes from non-Mediterranean populations. This is why we wanted to investigate the role of this key food of the Mediterranean Diet also in relation to cancer mortality, using the data collected by the Moli-sani study, one of the largest population cohorts in Europe.”
The benefits of olive oil
The results of the study, therefore, confirm the benefits of olive oil for heart health. In fact, a reduction of a quarter in deaths due to cardiovascular diseases was observed. But the most interesting data, according to the research team, is that the daily consumption of olive oil in quantities equal to or greater than three tablespoons (equal to approximately 30 grams of oil, ed) is associated with a 23% reduction in the risk of cancer mortality.
“The reduction in cancer mortality – explains Maria Benedetta Donati, of IRCCS Neuromed – appears to be explained, albeit partially, by an improvement in the profile of some risk factors typically linked to cardiovascular diseases. It is a hypothesis that fascinates many researchers: different chronic diseases such as tumors and heart attacks could share the same risk factors and the same molecular mechanisms.”
Further investigations will be necessary to clarify the mechanisms at play. But these results highlight once again the importance of integrating olive oil, a central element of the Mediterranean Diet, into our daily eating habits, underlines the researcher.
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