Chapter 10: Why Can’t I Have “Heart Healthy” Oils?

[Donna]

This is what EVERYONE is asking me! The perception is, and the mass media will propagate this, that monounsaturated fats such as those prominent in the “Mediterranean diet” are heart healthy.

I love that Dr. Esselstyn points out on page 84 that “Nothing could be further from the truth” and “Between 14-17% of olive oil is saturated, artery-clogging fat every bit as aggressive in promoting heart disease as the saturated fat in roast beef” now that is a direct statement of fact!

[Donna]

Lyon Diet heart study looking at Mediterranean Diet and heart disease by the end of it’s four years showed 25% (1 in 4) of participants had either died or experienced a new cardiovascular event! He goes on to show the China Study diet (sans oil) a similar but SUPERIOR one to the Lyon diet result, per T. Colin Campbell.

[Eric]

Would you believe if you dip bread in olive oil and then measure the brachial artery dilation (found in the forearm) there is a reduction in function (restriction) normally seen w/brachial artery tourniquet test?!?

This is suggestive of a reversible injury to the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels…which Dr. Esselstyn equates w/Nitric Oxide production, the thing that affects vasodilation in vessels, being diminished.

He further backs up the fact that research from Japan showed in murine model study from 1998 that Monounsaturated fats (like olive oil) elevated blood sugar & triglycerides.

So knowing information like this, a legitimate question is should we not limit the amount of oil we ingest?

[Donna]

So who thinks we should be “adding olive oil shots” to our commercial coffee drinks?