| Popis: |
Olive oil is one of the vegetable oils with the highest content of oleic acid (18:1), the major monounsaturated fatty acid. The nutritional role of monounsaturated fatty acids has been reevaluated in the recent years, when it has become clear that the substitution of saturated fatty acids for monounsaturated fatty acids induces a significant lowering of plasma cholesterol levels. Indeed, for a long time the leading opinion was that, contrary to polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturates did not have a hypocholesterolemic effect (1,2). The epidemiological observations of the Seven Countries Study (3) however supported the opposite thesis, that is that diets rich in oleic acid have a cholesterol lowering effect. This was evident in the populations of the Mediterranean countries, whose diet is rich in oleic acid, due to the high consumption of olive oil. These populations have lower levels of plasma cholesterol as compared with the North American and North European populations, who consume much higher amounts of saturated fats with their diets. |
