The Great Olive Oil Misconception (?)

[milkman21]

The Great Olive Oil Misconception
By Dean Ornish, MD
(originally in Reader's Digest)

Americans have developed an olive oil habit. Out to dinner recently, I saw a man dipping his white bread in olive oil and then pouring it all over his salad, saying, "Wow, this is so good for me!"
But is olive oil the healthiest fat? No, it's not. You might ask, Doesn't it lower cholesterol? Well, only when you substitute olive oil in equivalent amounts for butter or oils that are higher in saturated fat. Olive oil doesn't lower cholesterol; it just doesn't raise it as much.

You may be better off with canola oil. The 1999 Lyon Diet Heart Study found that a Mediterranean diet significantly reduced heart attacks and premature deaths. Many people attributed this to eating a lot of olive oil. But it was increased consumption of canola oil that accounted for these improvements.

Also, study participants ate more whole-grain bread, vegetables, fish and fruit, and less meat. Butter and cream were replaced with margarine made from canola oil, which has more healthy omega-3 fatty acids than olive oil does.

Another study found that olive oil reduced blood flow by 31%. Canola oil and fish oil don't. (You want to increase blood flow to all body parts.)

I like the taste of olive oil, and I use it sometimes. It's a healthier fat than many others, but it's not nearly as healthy as canola oil -- or fish oil and flaxseed oil, for that matter, which also have lots of omega-3s. And a tablespoon of any oil has 126 calories. Think about that before you pour it on.

And a counterpoint

[deschain]

I can easily see someone in a restaurant pouring on the olive oil like that.

It's funny how when there is something people want to consume, and they hear it's "healthy" - they scarf it down like there's no tomorrow. Yet, when there's something they don't care for, say (real) granola, then they eat a candy bar instead, sighting that "granola is high in fat".

[RacerBill]

Interesting. Ornish is usually preaching ultra-low fat.

I can't imagine using canola oil as a substitute. It has no flavor! But just "being healthy" doesn't mean you can drench every meal in olive oil. It's like eating a ton of low-fat ice cream or omega-3 cookies or Lean Cuisine meals and expecting magic results because "it's healthy."

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Wow. First HFCS, now EVOO. The sky is falling!

[deschain]

Originally Posted by RacerBill

It's like eating a ton of low-fat ice cream or omega-3 cookies or Lean Cuisine meals and expecting magic results because "it's healthy."

Omega3 cookies? okeydokie

I've noticed the new "in" thing seems to be fortifying everything, mostly with antioxidants. Minute Maid has a whole line of orange juices with added stuff in them - for joint health, chol reduction, etc. The funniest one I saw was chewing gum with antioxidants. Seriously.

[RacerBill]

Originally Posted by deschain

Omega3 cookies?

Yup. There really is such a thing. They're basically cookies (two varieties! Oatmeal and Oreo knockoff) with some flaxseed in the recipe, along with all the refined flour and sugar and such you'd expect to find in a cookie. The label touts their wonderful "health benefits."

Here's the company's products list. The website is badly out of date and they don't have a picture of the package, unfortunately.

http://www.voortman.com/whatsnew.html

[Jimbo]

"Fortified" Reminded me - I saw a rack in a quick stop yesterday that had "energy" chips on it. Yes. Potato chips with caffiene, torine, etc..added. Guess they would go good with a redbull.

I didn't pick them up and don't remember the name. I just thought "you've got to be kidding"

Here they are: http://www.nrgsnax.com/

[Alan Aragon]

lmfao @ Ornish reaching like this - just for the sake of defending his silly low-fat extremist dumbshitism.

Okay, show me some controlled research data comparing the low-fat, high-carb diet kicking the ass of the moderate-fat Mediterranean (type) diet. Mean time, I'll show you your ass.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...RVAbstractPlus
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...RVAbstractPlus
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum

[milkman21]

^^^ Hahaha. YES! Thanks Alan.

[Mark57]

Is it really EVOO, though? Or just dyed soybean oil?

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...a_fact_mueller

In 1997 and 1998, olive oil was the most adulterated agricultural product in the European Union, prompting the E.U.’s anti-fraud office to establish an olive-oil task force. (“Profits were comparable to cocaine trafficking, with none of the risks,” one investigator told me.) The E.U. also began phasing out subsidies for olive-oil producers and bottlers, in an effort to reduce crime, and after a few years it disbanded the task force. Yet fraud remains a major international problem: olive oil is far more valuable than most other vegetable oils, but it is costly and time-consuming to produce—and surprisingly easy to doctor. Adulteration is especially common in Italy, the world’s leading importer, consumer, and exporter of olive oil.

[Fit4Him]

Originally Posted by RacerBill

Yup. There really is such a thing. They're basically cookies (two varieties! Oatmeal and Oreo knockoff) with some flaxseed in the recipe, along with all the refined flour and sugar and such you'd expect to find in a cookie. The label touts their wonderful "health benefits."

Here's the company's products list. The website is badly out of date and they don't have a picture of the package, unfortunately.

http://www.voortman.com/whatsnew.html

But if the package SAYS that it's good for me, it must be....RIGHT?? LMAO...right.......

[RedLefty]

I'm still waiting for the beef jerky that's loaded with tribulus. It would be so manly, I'd probably crap Craftsman power tools.

[Alcoholiday]

i really don't care what a lot of people say anymore. you're going to have people saying the opposite of what you're doing is better, and then go back on it a few months later. Just stick with something you think is right.

I cook my veggies (peppers and onions) in olive oil for my eggs. mmmmmm.......

[AFI82]

Originally Posted by Fit4Him

But if the package SAYS that it's good for me, it must be....RIGHT?? LMAO...right.......

I saw a display case for a new weight loss pill while at the store yesterday. The line in large bold letters across the top said "EAT ALL YOU WANT AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT!" Just below that, in parentheses it said "(and we couldn't put it in print if it wasn't true!)".

Wouldn't that be double false advertising? Perhaps in this case 2 wrongs do make a right.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by AFI82

"EAT ALL YOU WANT AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT!" Just below that, in parentheses it said "(and we couldn't put it in print if it wasn't true!)".

MUST be an industrial strength laxative.

[deschain]

Originally Posted by RedLefty

I'm still waiting for the beef jerky that's loaded with tribulus. It would be so manly, I'd probably crap Craftsman power tools.

Hell, who knows, that might be an improvement for Craftsman. :p