The Truth About the Mediterranean Diet

Olive oil is a staple of the so-called Mediterranean diet. This flavorful ingredient is a component of a mostly fruit, vegetable, fish, and whole grain diet eaten in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. When the media reported on research studies about this diet as a way to lower heart disease and cancer, Americans became enamored with olive oil. Restaurants replaced butter at tables with flavored olive oil for dipping bread. Food companies added olive oil to butter-like products as a healthier alternative. People started adding it to their diets, hoping it would solve blood cholesterol problems. Olive oil is a healthy alternative, but it does add calories to a meal—and olive oil alone doesn’t lower cholesterol levels.

	Olive oil is a healthy alternative, but it does add calories to a meal—and olive oil alone doesn’t lower cholesterol

Fat Content in Olive Oil

Fully 77 percent of the fatty acids in olive oil are monounsaturated, with 14 percent saturated, and 9 percent polyunsaturated. Olive oil helps lower cholesterol levels only if you use it in place of saturated fat and trans fats. “Extra-virgin” and “virgin” olive oils are the least processed forms. Those types contain the highest levels of the protective plant compounds that provide beneficial antioxidant effects. As it turns out, research has shown that other vegetable oils, such as canola, which is lower in saturated fat than olive oil, are even more effective in reducing cholesterol levels. Soybean oil and corn oil, which are high in polyunsaturated fat, are also very effective.

Cooking with Olive Oil

In my kitchen, I use olive oil for salads and on breads, instead of butter or margarine. I use safflower, canola oil, or olive oil for cooking, and add a little sesame oil for flavoring Asian dishes. Here’s a sauce recipe made with extra-virgin olive oil that I use on grilled salmon. You can use this easy-to-prepare sauce as a condiment on other fish, meats, and vegetables, as well as on crispy bread. Enjoy.

Green Sauce (makes about 1 cup)

This recipe comes from Strong Women Eat Well (written with Judy Knipe):

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups packed, curly parsley leaves
¼ preserved lemon, rinsed, pulp discarded, and quartered (optional)
1 tsp. tiny capers
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. fresh lemon (more if you don’t use preserved lemon)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

With the motor of a food processor running, drop the garlic through the feed tube and chop it up. Add the parsley and process until it is very finely chopped. Add the preserved lemon and process until it is chopped. Add the capers, vinegar, lemon juice, and olive oil and process until the capers are chopped and the sauce is well mixed. Keeps for two days tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Nutritional information per serving (1 Tbsp.):

65 calories
trace fiber
7g total fat
(1g saturated fat)
trace carbohydrates
trace protein