Some Surprising Bad News About Olive Oil

Posting Date: 12/07/2000

Have we been wrong about olive oil? Are sunflower oil and rapeseed oil actually better for us than the much touted Mediterranean brew?

Well, don't throw the truffles out with the sauce quite so fast, but these findings are a surprise.

In previous studies, olive oil was found to lower LDL -- the "bad cholesterol." Now the Journal of Lipid Research has published a report on a double-blind study of 18 healthy young men who were fed a steady diet of meals cooked with measured amounts of olive oil, rapeseed oil and sunflower oils.

The "olive oil-rich diet result (ed) in higher concentrations of LDL cholesterol and a higher number of LDL subfraction particles than rapeseed oil and sunflower oil diets."

So maybe they are on to something. It's too soon to tell.

Olive oil is just one ingredient of the very variable Mediterranean diet. My advice as always is to eat a variety of foods, eat moderate portions of what you enjoy and be merry. Don't worry about it.

Source: Journal of Lipid Research, December 2000 Vol. 41

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