Oleic Acid and Polyphenols in Extra Virgin Olive Oil Protect Against Cardiovascular Diseases

The Mediterranean Diet involves high consumption of plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, and legumes), supplementation of fats through olive oil (OO) intake, regular consumption of fish and dairy, and small amounts of red meat and wine. Its adoption has been recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as an important measure against cardiovascular diseases. One of the key features that sets the Mediterranean Diet apart from other dietary patterns is its specific fat source—extra virgin olive oil.

A 24-year follow-up study found a positive association between extra virgin olive oil consumption and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Individuals consuming high levels of olive oil (> 7 g/day) had a 14% reduction in CVD prevalence and an 18% reduction in coronary diseases prevalence compared to those who did not consume extra virgin oil.

A 10-year follow-up of adults without CVD revealed that participants who never or intermittently consumed olive oil had a 4.2 and 5.3 times higher probability of developing cardiovascular pathologies compared to those who exclusively consumed olive oil.

In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the labeling of extra virgin olive oil with the statement: “Thanks to the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) in olive oil, consuming about 23 g of oil per day is beneficial for coronary artery diseases.”

Oleic acid and polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil protect against cardiovascular diseases.

The advantage of extra virgin olive oil is that it is rich in oleic acid and polyphenols, compared to olive oil, which is only rich in oleic acid.

It is therefore essential to understand whether one of these beneficial components of olive oil is of decisive importance or if the beneficial action is exerted by the combined action of oleic acid and phenols.

Both preclinical and clinical studies, examined in a review by Chinese researchers, have shown that each of these individual components of extra virgin olive oil could produce cardiovascular protective effects through multiple cellular mechanisms and signaling pathways.

Although some studies have reported contradictory results, these discrepancies could be due to various factors such as variations in the origin and quality of the adopted extra virgin, doses or administration routes, and differences in experimental models.

However, current evidence has clearly highlighted that extra virgin olive oil could modulate various cellular mechanisms and common signaling pathways to produce its cardiovascular protective effects.

In general, extra virgin olive oil is considered a functional food with beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lipid level improvement, insulin sensitivity enhancement, endothelial function improvement, as well as antithrombotic and anti-atherosclerotic effects. All these effects can be attributed to bioactive components such as polyphenols and mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially oleic acid).

With increasing knowledge about the health promotion aspects of extra virgin olive oil, further work is needed to further define the biological mechanisms of action of the oil and better characterize the biological activities of different phenolic compounds that could potentially be useful for the development of new drugs in the future.