Professor Spector said it could also reduce instances of stroke and cancer
Howard Lloyd Regional content editor
14:07, 04 Mar 2026Updated 15:49, 04 Mar 2026
Olive Oil Tasting and Pairing with Food
Professor Tim Spector has gone into detail about a ‘drink’ that is high in fat but also cuts the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. For many years, it was thought that diets high in fat – particularly saturated fats – were bad for you.
The NHS warns that too much saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease. Fat is not only high in energy, but also helps us break down vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E, so some of it is essential.
However, as Prof Spector – co-founder of the health app Zoe and Honorary Consultant Physician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – points out, the Mediterranean diet is not only high in fresh fruit, vegetables and fish, but also in fat.
Much of that fat comes from nuts and seeds, but also olive oil. Prof Spector said consuming olive oil has been found to result in significant health benefits.
Content cannot be displayed without consentWhat the science says
He said: “In the 1960s, it was noted that Mediterranean countries had much less heart disease than Northern European countries. And people thought it was something in the diet; they thought it was just—it was about the wine or the lifestyle.
“They didn’t really know what it was. And it turns out that the amount of fats consumed in Mediterranean countries is actually quite high, which went against the sort of theories of 20 years ago that fats were bad for you. But it turns out the main source of fats in the Mediterranean is olive oil.
“So that started people thinking, ‘oh, maybe there’s something in olive oil that’s actually healthy’. Gradually more and more studies have shown that people who drink olive oil regularly have significantly lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and increasingly evidence that cancer is lower.
“There are at least 30 studies of observational cohorts showing this. There haven’t been any large-scale long-term studies until 2018 when they did something called the PREDIMED study. They were delivering large amounts of olive oil to 7,000 Spaniards, large amounts of mixed nuts to another group, and another group they were just giving the standard Mediterranean meals, and they followed them up for six years.
“And it clearly showed that the olive oil group had these really significant reductions in heart disease and strokes and breast cancer. They were giving them the equivalent of about four tablespoons a day, which actually is not far off some levels you’d have in bits of Greece, for example, but 100 times more than you’d get in the UK or the US.”
What type should I buy?
While olive oil is high in fat, the fats themselves are monounsaturated fatty acids, which reduce levels of bad cholesterol. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, potentially reducing plaque buildup in your arteries.
There are also numerous beneficial compounds like polyphenols (compounds with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics) and other antioxidants. But, as one 2024 paper pointed out, the type of olive oil you consume is also important.
“Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) contains the highest percentage of polyphenols and antioxidants. That’s because it goes through a single processing procedure whereas other types are processed more. More processing causes more polyphenols and antioxidants to be lost,” it said.
“Virgin olive oil (VOO) is only slightly more processed than EVOO. It still contains most of the olives’ polyphenolic and antioxidant compounds but not as many as EVOO. VOO is also milder in flavor.
“Finally, “light,” “pure,” and refined olive oils are more moderately processed. This leads to the mildest flavor, meaning they contain much less of the beneficial compounds.”
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