OLIVE OILS AND HEALTH 14 gredients of its diet, the ways of preparing them, and the leisurely and social manner of eating, but by the way you live your life. In the 1950s, Ancel Keys (1904 – 2004), the biologist who coined the term “Mediterranean Diet”, launched the first multinational epidemiological study on diet, cholesterol, and coronary heart disease, known as “The Seven Countries Study”. This study revealed the lower consumption of saturated fat in Japan and in the Mediterranean region, although in the latter total fat intake was high due to the significant consumption of olive oil. However, this took place within a generally low-calorie dietary pattern. From this study it was inferred that living in a Mediterranean country conferred a notable health advantage and was associated with longer life expectancy. By contrast, other studies from the same period concluded that olive oil should be replaced by seed oils, which, though scientifically correct at the time, but later shown to be incomplete, were found to reduce cholesterol. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, based on the dietary traditions of Crete, southern Italy, and Spain in the 1970s, was presented by Walter C. Willett (Hart, Michigan, 1945) at the International Conference on the Mediterranean Diet held in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA) in 1993, and was later published in 1995 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Francisco Grande Covián (Colunga, Asturias, 1909 – Madrid, 1995), Spanish physician and researcher, regarded as the father of nutrition in Spain and a world authority in this field, devoted his life to the study of nutrition. From 1954 to 1974 he worked in Ancel Keys’ laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Grande Covián demonstrated that olive oil, then little valued, was the main protective factor against cardiovascular risk and one of the reasons behind the low incidence of myocardial infarction in Mediterranean countries. From the scientific studies carried out by Professor Grande Covián and other authors it was concluded that animal fats increase cholesterol; seed oils reduce total cholesterol but lower both the “bad” (LDL) and the “good” (HDL) fractions; while olive oil lowers the harmful fraction and maintains or even increases the protective one. He therefore concluded that olive oil exerts a superior effect in preventing atherosclerotic disease. A great communicator of nutritional science, he left several memorable phrases still recalled by present-day nutritionists: “Man first wanted to eat to survive; later he wanted to eat well and incorporated gastronomy into his cultural world. Now, in addition, he ‘wants to eat health’ (that is, to eat for health)”; “One should eat a bit of everything, but in a dessert plate”. From the late 20th century to the present, research on olive oil and health has increased notably. Drawing on considerable scientific knowledge and technological resources, it has provided important demonstrations and insights into the relationship between olive oil and health. The most significant findings are described throughout the chapters of this book.
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