14 DAY TRIAL // A team of Spanish researchers has recently discovered the reason why Mediterranean diets greatly reduce heart attack risk.
They believe they've found the micronutrients in olive oil that make it a good heart protector, BBCreports.
According to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the virgin and extra virgin olive oils are the best because they have the highest phenol content.
The phenols are compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and clot-preventing powers.
Dr Juan Ruano and his colleagues compared the effects of phenol-rich olive oil against olive oil with most of its phenol content removed on 21 volunteers with high cholesterol by studying the response of the blood vessels to sudden changes in blood flow.
A few hours after the high-phenol olive oil meal, the blood vessel response increased significantly, while for the low level phenol meals, there wasn't any improvement.
It seems that the reason behind this is the increased levels of a molecule called nitric oxide, which has the job of dilating blood vessels, and reduce levels of oxidative stress.
"The intake of food high in phenols compounds could improve cardiovascular health and protect the heart", researcher Dr Francisco Perez Jimenez concluded.