Using olive oil could help people live longer and reduce the risk of serious diseases, a new study has claimed.
The research was conducted by Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Scientists singled out cancer, dementia, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases which they say may be successfully tackled with the help of 10 grams (just over two teaspoons) per day of margarine, butter, mayonnaise, and dairy fat being replaced with the same amount of olive oil.
Marta Guasch-Ferre, study author and senior research scientist at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, explained that all those men and women who opted for a daily 10 gram portion of olive oil over the same amount of animal fat had up to a 34% lower overall risk of dying than people who ate little or no such oil.
She described the research as "the first long-term study, including more than 90,000 participants followed for up to 30 years, conducted in the American population on olive oil and mortality".
Guasch-Ferre added that previous studies were "conducted in Mediterranean and European populations where the consumption of olive oil tends to be higher".
The scientist underlined that the study's results "provide further support for recommendations to replace saturated fat and animal fat with unsaturated plant oils, such as olive oil, for the prevention of premature death".