The pantry staple experts say you should eat every day
A new study has found that three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) a day can prevent chronic disease and cancer.
Brown University associate professor of medicine Dr Mary Flynn also found that three serves of EVOO with a plant-based diet can also help with weight loss.
Dr Flynn, a specialist in breast and prostate cancer, studied the impact of a plant-based EVOO diet on prostate cancer and found that it was “extremely effective” at improving biomarkers for cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The diet includes three tablespoons of EVOO a day to account for four to five servings of health fats that include nuts, olive and avocado.
It also includes six to seven serves of wholegrain starch, minimum of four servings of vegetables, up to three servings of fruit, up to two optional servings of dairy and eggs, and 350g maximum of meat, poultry or seafood per week.
The diet recommends for the red meat to be entirely eliminated, but if not, recommends no more than 170g a month.
The diet removes cured meats, vegetable oils and margarine and mayonnaise with vegetable seed oils – saying they have an increased cancer risk.
Dr Flynn compared the EVOO plant-based diet with the diet recommended by the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation diet recommends decreasing carbohydrates, sugar, high fat food, charred meats, while allowing vegetable oil, margarine and salad dressings but no EVOO.
Men followed the two diets for eights weeks and then picked the one they wanted to follow for six months.
Dr Flynn’s results showed that people with diets, including daily EVOO consumption, had lower rates of most chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancers, arthritis and type 2 diabetes.
“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for prostate cancer patients,” Dr Flynn said.
“A plant-based EVOO diet improves insulin function and lowers fasting insulin and glucose levels, protects against weight gain and reduces the risk of various cancers.
“EVOO has been shown to decrease a number of risk factors for chronic diseases including inflammation, blood pressure, body weight, blood levels of insulin and glucose, oxidation and blood coagulation,” Dr Flynn said.
“The diet isn’t just for cancer patients or prevention, it’s for everyone wanting to live a healthy life and prevent the risk of disease,” Dr Flynn said.