We are all well aware of the impact of diet on our health and wellbeing. The NHS and other health bodies recommend sticking to a balanced diet that includes fruits, veggies, high fibre starchy foods, protein, and dairy or dairy alternatives.
It is also advised to limit the amount of saturated fat, salt and sugar you consume.
However, one expert has revealed that a certain type of healthy fat is something we should all be eating more of.
Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and founder of the Zoe Health app, shared one of the best foods we can eat.
In a recent Instagram post, he said: “If I did believe in ‘superfoods’, extra virgin olive oil would be one of them.”
Consuming extra virgin olive oil could help lower your risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, he said.
Tim explained: “In the 1960s it was noted that Mediterranean countries had much less heart disease than northern European countries and people thought it was something in the diet.
“They thought it was just it was about the wine or the lifestyle, they didn’t really know what it was.
“And it turns out the amount of fats consumed in Mediterranean countries was actually, quite high, which went against the theories of 20 years ago that fats were bad for you.
“But it turns out the main source of fats in the Mediterranean is olive oil.”
Further research demonstrated the health benefits of olive oil. Tim said: “Gradually more and more studies have shown that people who drink olive oil regularly have significantly lower rates of heart disease, stroke and increasingly the evidence is that cancer is less.
“They’re at least 30 studies of observational cohorts showing this.”
He referenced a specific study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018.
“There haven’t been any large-scale long-term studies until 2018 when they did something called the predimed study,” Tim said.
“They were delivering large amounts of olive oil to 7,000 Spaniards, large amounts of mixed nuts to another group, another group were just giving the standard Mediterranean meals, and they followed them up for six years.
“This clearly showed that the olive oil group had these really significant reductions in heart disease and strokes and breast cancer.
“They were giving them the equivalent of about four tablespoons a day, which actually is not far off some levels you’d have in bits of Greece, for example, but 100 times more than you get in the UK or the US.”
However, it is worth noting that olive oil, while having these benefits, is still high in calories and four tablespoons-worth is equivalent to 476 calories. Eating extra virgin olive oil in moderation is recommended.
In a caption under the video, Tim added: “While many of us were taught to fear fat, research shows that diets rich in extra virgin olive oil are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
“Many of these benefits are attributed to the high polyphenol count of extra virgin olive oil. Not only do these polyphenols exert powerful anti-inflammatory effects, but they also promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, contributing to gut health.”