José María de Teresa: «Neurotechnology will allow our thoughts to be read»
11 January 2022
Pig heart successfully transplanted into man in US
11 January 2022
The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, reveals that replacing other fats with an equivalent amount of olive oil reduces premature mortality.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, among whom is the professor of Preventive Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Navarra Miguel Ángel Martínez-González, associate for the first time in United States a higher intake of olive oil with a lower risk of total and cause-specific mortality.
The study, titled “Olive oil consumption and risk of total and cause-specific mortality in American adults” and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), also reveals that replacing other fats with an equivalent amount of olive oil reduces premature mortality.
This is stated in a note from the University of Navarra, in which Martínez-González, visiting professor at Harvard University since 2016, explains that The research was developed using data from the best-known and most reliable American studies in nutrition., which are the cohort of nurses, with 60.582 female participants, and that of health professionals, with 31.801 male volunteers.
"The work is directed from Harvard University and has been monitored for 28 years, during which more than 36.000 deaths were verified and their cause was identified”, says Professor Martínez-González, professor at the University of Navarra and researcher at Ciberobn, and one of the authors of the work.
As he explains, “doubts could arise when thinking that consuming olive oil was only a global marker of a healthy life. However, the wealth of information collected from these participants every two years, including an extensive nutritional assessment repeated every 4 years, as well as the many other aspects of diet and lifestyle studied, They allow us to validly identify the long-term effect of olive oil consumption., once participants are matched for age and a host of other factors.”
The work was led by researchers Marta Guasch-Ferré and Frank Hu, and the Rovira i Virgili University also participated.
The consumption of olive oil was compared in different categories and it was observed that, other characteristics being equal, Those who consumed the most olive oil had relative reductions of 19% in cardiovascular mortality, 17% in mortality from cancer, 29% from neurodegenerative disease and 18% from respiratory mortality.
Martínez-González adds that “in addition, it was observed that replacing 10 grams per day of other fats, such as margarine, butter, mayonnaise or dairy fats, with olive oil, “It was associated with an 8 to 34% lower risk of total and cause-specific mortality.”
These results support those already obtained for olive oil and the Mediterranean diet in other pioneering research in Spain, such as the SUN study (Monitoring University of Navarra), with 23.000 participants and the Predimed trial (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet), with more than 7.000 participants and only 5-year follow-up.
Although these and other previous studies already made it possible to recommend olive oil and the Mediterranean diet for cardiovascular prevention, "they were not able to identify such a direct long-term relationship between olive oil consumption and reduction in premature mortality," says the doctor.
“The new American results They are decisive to confirm the longer-term preventive effects on premature mortality. Being such a robust work, they undoubtedly help to strengthen the nutritional advice that we have been giving,” he adds.
