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OLIVE oil may not be any healthier than cheaper vegetable oils, although the European Union has spent millions of pounds promoting its use, according to a study.

Sales of olive oil in Britain have risen more than sixfold in the past 10 years as the fashion for Mediterranean cooking has grown. But the authors of the study, published in the Lancet, accuse the EU of giving "unjustifiably favourable impressions" of olive oil. They acknowledge that all polyunsaturated fats, vegetable and rapeseed, are more nutritious than saturated fats such as butter or lard, but say that many claims for olive oil are unfounded.

Although it is claimed that olive oil helps reduce cholesterol levels, the report says this is also true of most other unsaturated vegetable oils and these can lead to far lower cholesterol concentrations. They also claim that it is not the best oil for preventing cardio-vascular disease and that it is misleading to suggest that olive oil does not promote obesity.

The beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet cannot be solely attributed to olive oil, but rather a complex combination of foods, such as plenty of bread, vegetables, fruit, wine and garlic, they say.

In the report the authors say: "It is troubling when foods are promoted with unjustified health attributes or in a context where highly relevant information is hidden (in this case the fact that alternative vegetable oils might be very attractive choices from a health perspective)."

The ancient Greeks believed olive oil had supernatural powers and experts today believe it can help prevent more than a dozen conditions, such as bowel cancer. It is widely believed that olive oil is more beneficial than other vegetable oils, but precisely why is still unclear. One theory is that the traditional cold-production process for virgin olive oil, which involves only pressing and filtering, does not destroy the health-enhancing compounds.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

Answers

It's hard to know what to think of this study. I remember when canola oil was touted as "THE" oil with which to cook. Now there are people who claim canola oil is responsible for a variety of ills. Then came the touting of olive oil. I priced some in the store and decided to cut back on frying. Today I steam, grill, or bake, rather than fry.

Now I'm starting to read posts like this one that suggest that olive oil isn't that cool.

Heck, if you wait long enough, most foods will be on or off the banned list. I remember when it wasn't cool to eat either potatoes or eggs. That one I pooh-poohed as a poor student: eggs and potatoes were FILLING, could be made into lots of dishes, and reasonably priced. I ate better on potato and egg dishes than students who subsisted on beer, popcorn, and Pop Tarts.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

I still use olive oil because I like it. I cannot stomache the taste of canola oil. My 77 year old father swears by lard (homemade) and will cook with nothing else. ( never any heart/cholesterol problems) I must admit, the taste of homemade biscuits, made his way, and pan gravy, keep me going home for visits.

Dennis

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

My gran used to always cook with lard, and she was the best cook I've ever met... I'd kill for a plate of her fried chicken & cornbread...

Use vegeteble oil when I fry foods, which is rare, although I also use butter for some things....

Mostly bake or boil anymore...

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

Dad's 84 and eats an unhealthy diet of steak, lamb, pork, bacon, ham, eggs, potatoes (usually mashed with butter and milk), pies, turnovers, chocolates, on and on, all of which he is healthy enough to cook for himself. He has emphysema from almost 20 years in the coal mines and about 60 years of smoking (he quit a year ago). He has an enlarged heart and some high blood pressure, probably from the effort of breathing. He is only just now being tested for a nebulizer, though.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that when he was younger he drank an awful lot, developed a serious ulcer and had a good portion of his stomach removed--a third, if I remember right. Food goes almost straight through his system. Dad has never owned a car and walks or cycles everywhere. Hmm. So still do many of the Mediterranean people.

Having said all that, I do know that New Orleans, with its rich diet, has one of the highest rates of diabetes, heart problems, cancer and all the other nasties in the country. Appalling obesity is common there.

I wonder if the folks who did this study are, for example, the Highly Processed Vegetable Oils Amalgamation? I like virgin olive oil for the taste and lack of processing but use only a little bit for sauteeing or stir frying. I use organic butter and cream cheese for bagels and toast. No 'orrible margarine in this house!

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

84 huh? Drank a lot, smoked for 60 years, ate whatever he wanted... now there's a statement.. :)

I think I like his plan....

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

It's an odd thing: I know about even numbers of elderly men and women who have smoked, ate high-fat food, drank. About have are in nursing homes, hanging on by a thread. The other half are still in their homes, cooking for themselves, and driving! (although one really shouldn't be).

I think their life span might have more to do with genetics. The ones who are in nursing homes are about the same age as their parents when they passed away (ave age about 73). The ones who are still out and about had parents who lived well into their 90s.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001

Yes, I'm sure it's genetics. Dad pulled the luckiest hand. His parents died in their early 70s of strokes, one of his sisters died of a brain tumor in her mid-70s, and the other one has had severe chronic fatigue syndrome (passed on to my brother and me from my aunt AND my mother) since her twenties. We're still trying to figure out where my diabetes comes from but we can't go back any further than about 1892. Dad also has two female cousins, both in their late 70s, early 80s, and they're still going as strong as he is. BTW, he still does his own housework and laundry, although the gardening is getting to be a bit much.

The Duke/VA doctors The Hungarian works with tell her all the time that good health is due largely to genetics.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001