15 Virgin Olive Oil Benefits This book seeks to meet the need for up-to-date, reliable, and accessible information on the health benefits of olive oil. It also aspires, in the words of Ortega y Gasset (1883 – 1955), to be “at the height of its time (that is, in step with its time)”. The promoters of this publication (“Fundación Patrimonio Comunal Olivarero” and “Organización Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva Español”) and this Scientific Editor, through the independent patronage of the former and the latter’s thirty-six years of research on olive oil and health, have been able to confirm that olive oil possesses numerous health benefits. Two facts, however, have prompted them to promote this publication Two facts, however, have prompted them to promote this publication. On the one hand, they view with concern the abundance of information which, while often very favourable to olive oil, is either insufficiently verified or even false. Such inaccuracies discredit both the scientific community and the sector as a whole. Moreover, the misinformation generated can unjustly cast doubt upon the rigorous evidence that does exist regarding the health benefits of olive oil. On the other hand, the frequent controversies surrounding food, which create confusion and change over time, as has also been the case with olive oil since the 1950s, add to the problem. On this issue, Gregorio Marañón (1887 – 1960), an illustrious and universally renowned endocrinologist, observed that “there is no part of medicine more mutable, nor resting on shakier foundations, than the science of dietetics; scarcely a year passes without some fundamental change”. For all these reasons, the Promoters, the Editor, and the Authors declare no conflict of interest in this publication. Their sole commitment is to scientific rigour and to the dissemination of knowledge on a subject as complex, evolving, and sensitive as olive oil and health. Objectives of the book First, to provide the well-established scientific evidence available to date on the health benefits of olive oils, in accordance with the basic European regulation ([EC] No. 1924/2006, amended by [EC] No. 109/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 and 15 January 2008, respectively, concerning nutrition and health claims on foods). “Science is the father of knowledge, but opinions give birth to ignorance”. (Hippocrates, 460 BC – 370 BC)
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