Daily sip of superfood drink 'fights heart disease, dementia and diabetes' — not coffee or probiotics!
Try and think of all those drinks you've been told are good for you to consume regularly and you'll probably come up with a long list, some of which are based on claims more accurate than others.
From coffee to probiotics to fruit juices, green tea and so-called "health shots", the list goes on and on. And while it's definitely true that many of these do have proven health benefits, others are often more the result of marketing efforts than scientific ones.
One "drink" you've probably never thought of, however, is extra virgin olive oil. You may well use it to cook with, in a salad dressing or even as an extra indulgent drizzle on your pasta — you can actually use it to make a delicious and healthy superfood chocolate dessert ( see the recipe here ). But drinking it? Probably not.
READ MORE: Eating 99p item in pasta could 'lower your risk of cancer'
READ MORE: Eating one fruit with 'mucus-thinning properties' could help clear your cough
However, there is evidence to show that taking a daily drink of olive oil can help your health, and help protect against serious chronic illnesses like heart disease, dementia and diabetes. Let's look at some of this evidence.
Firstly, olive oil is a key part of the diet which many believe to be the "world's healthiest": the Mediterranean diet. A large panel of medical and nutrition experts gave it a score of 85.1%, comfortably ahead of the second-placed diet in their list. It is essentially just a way of describing the foods eaten by people living in the Mediterranean, especially in Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey. It emphasises plant-based foods and healthy fats.
Secondly, a team at the University of Glasgow conducted an experiment where they took 70 volunteers and split them into two groups – one group were given a supply of extra virgin olive oil, and one group ‘normal’ olive oil. Each person had to take 20ml of olive oil a day (about 2 dessert spoons). The average measure of coronary artery disease for both groups fell significantly at three weeks and again at 6 weeks after taking the olive oil. Of course, it's not necessary for you to literally drink olive oil as in the experiment above and you can easily incorporate it into your diet in other ways, for example in salads or by adding to pasta or other dishes, or by cooking with it. And it is important to take expert advice before altering your diet significantly. And, as ever, a balanced diet of nutritious foods is usually the best and most sensible option.
There are many other sources you can find which detail the health benefits of olive oil. Zoe co-founder Professor Tim Spector is a leading fan, and biologist and nutritionist Concetta Montagnese, a researcher at the Institute of Food Sciences at Italy's National Research Council, says it is a "powerful anti-inflammatory ingredient, which helps fight cardiovascular diseases and diabetes".
She told House and Garden: "Rich in important monounsaturated fatty acids, including oleic acid, and polyphenols, particularly oleocanthal, it also contains a lot of vitamin E, which is beneficial for the immune system and the skin. Thanks to its antioxidant compounds, it helps cells stay younger. Some studies have also associated high consumption of extra virgin olive oil with cancer prevention."
Why is olive oil healthy?
High in healthy monounsaturated fats: it reduces inflammation and oxidative stress.
High in anti-oxidants: May help reduce your risk of chronic diseases, particularly heart disease. Anti-oxidants also fight inflammation .
May reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease: A 2024 review found that olive oil may do this by reducing beta-amyloid plaques, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress.
May help guard against type 2 diabetes: A 2019 study found that people with pre-diabetes who took 55ml of oleanolic acid-enriched olive oil each day were 55% less likely to develop diabetes than participants in the control group, reports Healthline.
May guard against cancer: One 2022 analysis suggested that people who consumed the highest amount of olive oil were 31% less likely to develop cancer, possibly due to the antioxidants.
Writing for The Conversation in 2015, Prof Spector said: "In Britain and the US, people consume on average around 1 litre of olive oil per person per year, but isn't much compared to the Greeks, Italians and Spanish who all consume more 13 litres per person. Olive oil, with its high calories and mixed saturated and unsaturated fats, was once assumed by many doctors to be dreadfully unhealthy. But health surveys of European populations kept finding that southern Europeans lived longer and had less heart disease despite higher fat intakes. It turns out olive oil was the likely reason."
He added: "If we start educating people to use high-quality extra virgin olive oil early in life and change its stigma as a medicine or punishment, we could make our populations and our gut microbiomes healthier."
As mentioned above, it's not necessary for you to literally drink olive oil as in the experiment mentioned above and you can easily incorporate it into your diet in other ways, for example in salads or by adding to pasta or other dishes, or by cooking with it. But lots of evidence shows that having a healthy intake of extra virgin olive oil may have many health benefits. It is important to take expert advice before altering your diet significantly. And, as ever, a balanced diet of nutritious foods is usually the best and most sensible option.