Olive oil intake has been associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Mediterranean populations, but little is known about these associations in the U.S population.
Objectives
This study sought to examine whether olive oil intake is associated with total CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke risk.
Methods
This study included 61,181 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (1990 to 2014) and 31,797 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1990 to 2014) who were free of cancer, heart disease, and stroke at baseline. Diet was assessed using food frequency questionnaires at baseline and then every 4 years. Cox proportional hazards regressions were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results
During 24 years of follow-up, this study documented 9,797 incident cases of CVD, including 6,034 CHD cases and 3,802 stroke cases. After adjusting for major diet and lifestyle factors, compared with nonconsumers, those with higher olive oil intake (>0.5 tablespoon/day or >7 g/day) had 14% lower risk of CVD (pooled HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.79 to 0.94) and 18% lower risk of CHD (pooled HR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.73 to 0.91). No significant associations were observed for total or ischemic stroke. Replacing 5 g/day of margarine, butter, mayonnaise, or dairy fat with the equivalent amount of olive oil was associated with 5% to 7% lower risk of total CVD and CHD. No significant associations were observed when olive oil was compared with other plant oils combined. In a subset of participants, higher olive oil intake was associated with lower levels of circulating inflammatory biomarkers and a better lipid profile.
Conclusions
Higher olive oil intake was associated with lower risk of CHD and total CVD in 2 large prospective cohorts of U.S. men and women. The substitution of margarine, butter, mayonnaise, and dairy fat with olive oil could lead to lower risk of CHD and CVD.
This work was supported by research grants UM1 CA186107, UM1 CA176726, U01 CA167552, P01 CA87969, P01 CA055075, R01 HL034594, HL088521, HL35464, DK120870, and HL60712 from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Guasch-Ferré received grant 1-18-PMF-029 from the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Salas-Salvadó gratefully acknowledges the financial support by ICREA under ICREA Academy. Drs. Salas-Salvadó and Marínez-Gonzáklz are principal investigators of PREDIMED-Plus and received olive oil used in the PREDIMED and PREDIMED-Plus trials from The Fundaciòn Patrimonio Comunal Olivarero and Hojiblanca SA (Malaga, Spain). Dr. Hu has received research support from California Walnut Commission. All other authors have reported that they have nor relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
