Does olives helps prevent heart attack?

Answer 1

There are many scientific studies that suggest that olive oil helps prevent and treat Heart disease. Studies have shown that olive oil offers protection against heart disease by controlling LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels while raising HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels. No other naturally produced oil has as high as a percentage of mono-unsaturated fat as olive oil. It appears that people who consumed 23ml - about 2 tablespoons - of virgin olive oil daily showed less oxidation of LDL cholesterol and higher levels of anti-oxidant compounds, particularly phenols, in the blood. But while all types of olive oil are sources of mono-unsaturated fat, extra virgin olive oil (and especially the higher quality ones) contains higher levels of anti-oxidants, particularly vitamin E and phenols, because it is less processed.

On the other hand, olive oil is 100% fat. (Read the label.) One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories and of those, 120 calories are from fat. Whole olives do not fare much better calorie wise, but at least the meager trace nutrients have not been discarded.

If you want to reduce heart attack risk, you won't do it by adding more fat from olive oil. You must reduce fat (especially animal fat) and then replace what is left with fats from sources like olive oil, nuts and seeds.

When "studies show," the question is whether they show a consequence that results from "adding" or "replacing" or "restricting to" a type of food. Obviously, replacing bad stuff is going to work a lot better than keeping it while taking in additional foods.