For those following a vegan diet, considering a transition, or simply incorporating more plant-based products, understanding how to maintain a healthy and well-balanced intake of macronutrients is crucial. Olive oil, with its unique properties and healthy fat status, plays a key role in veganism. Veganism involves completely eliminating animal products from one's diet, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and even honey, often driven by ethical, health, and ecological reasons. In fact, veganism is considered by many a way of life rather than just a diet.
Understanding Veganism
Veganism involves the elimination of all animal products from the diet, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and honey. Motivations for adopting a vegan lifestyle include ethical, health, and ecological concerns. It is considered a way of life by many. The number of vegans continues to grow year after year, with the US having a significant number of vegetarian restaurants.
Maintaining Energy Balance on a Vegan Diet
Achieving a healthy energy balance is key to a successful vegan diet. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the three macronutrients required daily. Fats should constitute between 30 and 40% of our daily energy intake, playing a vital role in maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system and developing brain cells. However, not all fats are equally beneficial.
An ideal scenario involves balancing omega-6, omega-3, and omega-9 fatty acids. Olive oil, particularly La Española Olive Oil, is composed of approximately 80% monounsaturated fatty acids, specifically omega-9 fatty acids. These are important for preventing cardiovascular diseases and regulating LDL cholesterol. Olive oil is also rich in polyphenols, antioxidant molecules that enhance cell regeneration and skin elasticity, and is highly resistant to heat, making it suitable for cooking. Organic olive oils, such as La Española Organic Olive Oil, align with the environmental protection motivations of veganism.
Olive Oil in Vegan Recipes
Olive oil complements various vegan recipes, including Greek salads, pasta sauces, and Mediterranean dishes. Its versatility allows for use as a salad dressing, in cooking pasta, making vegan soups, homemade sauces, baking, and sautéing vegetables. Olive oil enhances the flavor of any recipe.
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Olive Oil and Heart Health: A Complex Relationship
Recent research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) suggests that a low-fat vegan diet without extra virgin olive oil may be more effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels in individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease than a vegan diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil. This cross-over study found that participants lost more weight and demonstrated lower LDL cholesterol levels after following a low-fat diet compared to an olive oil-enriched diet.
The trial involved 40 individuals at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, who followed two vegan diets for four weeks each, with a one-week washout period in between. One diet included four tablespoons of California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil daily, consumed raw, while the other limited olive oil intake to less than one tablespoon daily. Both diets consisted of whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, excluding animal-based foods.
Researchers collected data on participants' metabolism, clinical health, behavior, and diet at the start and end of each diet period. The scientists found that both diets offered health benefits, reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL cholesterol levels, compared to typical diets that include animal products.
However, significant differences were observed between the two diets, particularly in key markers for heart disease risk. The low extra virgin olive oil diet yielded greater LDL cholesterol and lipid-lowering effects compared to the high extra virgin olive oil diet. Participants who started with the high extra virgin olive oil diet and then transitioned to the low extra virgin olive oil diet experienced a reduction in LDL cholesterol. Conversely, those who started with the low extra virgin olive oil diet and then added extra virgin olive oil for the second four weeks had an increase in LDL cholesterol.
Overall, both diets reduced several important health markers related to heart health and inflammation. Participants experienced a reduction in body weight during both diet phases, with more weight loss observed during the low-fat diet. The weight loss suggests that even within a whole-food, plant-based vegan diet, the amount of added fats, including extra virgin olive oil, can affect overall energy balance and health markers. Increased dietary fiber consumption during both diet phases also helped lower LDL cholesterol.
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The researchers observed that the shift to unsaturated fats from whole foods and reduced saturated fats likely contributed to positive health outcomes. According to Krenek, the most interesting findings of the study include that both low and high extra virgin olive oil within a whole food, plant-based vegan diet support heart disease risk reduction compared to standard omnivorous patterns, though lower intake may yield greater lipid-lowering compared to relatively greater intake. The addition of extra virgin olive oil after consuming smaller amounts may impede risk reduction.
Criticisms and Alternative Perspectives
Mary Flynn, the founder of the Olive Oil Health Initiative of Brown University’s Miriam Hospital, critiqued the study’s objectives and methodology. She argued that extra virgin olive oil typically increases HDL and improves HDL function, while polyunsaturated fats lower LDL more effectively but also oxidize it, contributing to atherosclerosis. Flynn emphasized that extra virgin olive oil’s primary health benefits regarding cardiovascular disease come from its phenols, not the fat.
Flynn pointed to a 2023 review that found extra virgin olive oil can decrease LDL-c for baseline values greater than 120 milligrams per deciliter and increase HDL-c with a linear increase with higher total phenol content compared with other dietary fats or low-fat diets. She also stated that diets including daily extra virgin olive oil are effective for weight loss and long-term weight management and that an extra virgin olive oil with a total phenol content of at least 150 milligrams per kilogram has been shown to decrease LDL oxidation.
Flynn criticized the lack of details about the olive oil used in the JAHA study, particularly the phenol count, which she said is essential for any study investigating the relationship between extra virgin olive oil and health outcomes. She also critiqued the researchers’ assessment of caloric and nutrient intake, noting that diet recall is not the best way to assess calories. Finally, she added that weight before and after both sets of trials in the cross-over study was not recorded, which makes it more difficult to compare the results of the two diets for each grouping.
The Mediterranean Diet: A Balanced Approach
The Mediterranean Diet emphasizes plant-based foods and healthy fats, focusing on overall eating patterns rather than strict formulas or calculations. It includes lots of vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, and nuts; a good amount of whole grains; plenty of extra virgin olive oil; a good amount of fish; a moderate amount of natural cheese and yogurt; little or no red meat; and little or no sweets.
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The Mediterranean Diet has been linked with a reduced risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Healthcare providers recommend this eating plan for those with risk factors for heart disease or to support other aspects of health. Its benefits include lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, supporting a healthy body weight, supporting healthy blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol, lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome, supporting a healthy balance of gut microbiota, lowering the risk for certain types of cancer, and slowing the decline of brain function as you age.
Key Components of the Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet limits saturated and trans fat, encourages healthy unsaturated fats, limits sodium and refined carbohydrates, and favors foods high in fiber and antioxidants. It includes many different nutrients that work together to help your body.
Mediterranean Diet Food List and Serving Goals
The diet encourages eating plenty of foods like fresh fruits and vegetables (3 servings per day), whole grains (3-6 servings per day), legumes (3 servings per week), fish (3 servings per week), and nuts (at least 3 servings per week). Poultry should be limited to no more than once daily, dairy no more than once daily, and red meat no more than once per week. Extra virgin olive oil should be consumed 1-4 servings per day.
Creating a Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan
Consulting with a primary care physician (PCP) or dietitian is important before making drastic changes to your diet. They can ensure the plan is best for your individual needs and may share meal plans and recipes.
Olive Oil: Not Necessarily a Health Food?
An important new study provides compelling evidence that while olive oil is healthier than animal-based fats, no oil may be the healthiest of all when it comes to heart health. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, is one of the first to compare a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet that contains olive oil with a WFPB diet that contains little to no oil.
Olive oil first gained a reputation as a health food in the 1990s, with the popularization of the Mediterranean diet. Cultures with Mediterranean diets have lower rates of heart disease, metabolic disease, Type 2 diabetes, and other chronic health conditions. However, which aspects of the Mediterranean diet confer the greatest health benefit is an area of ongoing investigation.
While a number of studies have corroborated the benefits of emphasizing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and minimizing red meat, the role of olive oil is less clear. There has been little data around whether a plant-based diet without oil might offer even greater heart-health benefits.
Recipe for Heart Health Trial
The Recipe for Heart Health Trial included 40 adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. One group consumed a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet that included 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil daily. The other group consumed a WFPB diet that was virtually oil free, containing no more than 1 teaspoon of olive oil daily. After four weeks, the researchers had them switch diets.
Compared with their blood work at the start of the study, participants saw improvements in cholesterol and other heart health markers while on both plant-based diets, but they saw greater improvements on the low-oil plant-based diet. And when participants switched from the low-oil phase to the higher-oil phase, they saw increases in cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and hs-CRP.
The authors conclude that although both inclusion and exclusion of extra virgin olive oil within a whole food, plant-based vegan diet support cardiometabolic disease risk reduction compared with a standard omnivorous pattern, decreased intake of extra virgin olive oil may yield increased lipid lowering than relatively greater consumption.
The Less Oil the Better
Matthew Lederman, M.D., co-author of The Forks Over Knives Plan, says that the new study’s findings are in line with results he’s seen among patients who adopt oil-free plant-based diets, with even greater improvements among those who adhere to a low-fat plant-based diet in which only 10%-15% of calories come from fat. He hopes that the recently published research will help shift the perception of olive oil, advising to minimize it as much as possible and to use it as a last resort.
Cardiometabolic Effects of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Scientists at the University of Florida, USA, have conducted a randomized crossover trial to investigate the cardiometabolic effects of extra virgin olive oil within a whole-food, plant-based vegan diet. Plant-based diets, including Mediterranean and vegetarian or vegan diets, have shown promising outcomes in cardiometabolic risk reduction.
The study recruited 40 adults aged 18 to 79 with a 5% or higher cardiovascular disease risk. One dietary pattern included four tablespoons of uncooked extra virgin olive oil per day (high-EVOO diet), and the other included less than one teaspoon per day (low-EVOO diet). Differences in LDL-C levels between the two diets were observed depending on which diet was followed first. Both dietary patterns caused a significant reduction in body weight.
The low-EVOO diet used in the study has shown higher efficacy in reducing LDL-C levels than the high-EVOO diet. The study findings also highlight that the addition of EVOO after following a low intake may impede further reduction in LDL-C levels. The intake of saturated fat during the high-EVOO diet period was slightly higher than that during the low-EVOO period. Furthermore, during the low-EVOO diet period, unrefined whole plant‐based fats, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, and olives, comprised most of the dietary fat.