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Throughout the past days, various media outlets such as Changing America, ABC news and the European Food Agency News shined the spotlight on one of this week’s highly relevant studies on olive oil consumption broadcasting its potential to reduce all cause mortality and mortality from specific causes. In this study, dietary intakes were assessed every 4 years over 28 years of follow-up in two renowned cohorts consisting of 60,586 women from the Nurses' Health Study, and 31,801 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. A monumental feat on its own. Overall, both cohorts show that individuals who had a higher olive consumption (more than ½ a tablespoon per day) had an all-cause mortality HR of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.78-0.84) when compared to those who never or rarely consumed olive oil. Moreover, when looking at specific causes of mortality, higher consumption of olive oil was associated with a 19% reduction in cardiovascular mortality, a 17% reduction in cancer mortality, a 29% reduction in mortality from neurodegenerative diseases and a 18% reduction in mortality from lower respiratory disease. Undoubtedly, the results from these cohorts contribute substantially to the already vast evidence on the benefits of olive oil consumption, but also support the advocacy of olive oil as the quintessential healthy fat for its numerous health benefits as listed by the authors in their study.
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