24-Year Study Reveals: What Happens to Your Body When You Consume a Teaspoon of Olive Oil Daily?

Love olive oil? You'll be glad to hear that a new study spanning 24 years found that consuming a teaspoon of olive oil daily as part of a healthier lifestyle significantly reduces the risk of heart disease and other ailments.

The study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the USA discovered that even half a teaspoon of olive oil daily is enough to lower heart disease chances by about 21 percent. The study's lead author, Martha Guasch-Ferré from the Harvard School of Public Health, mentioned that olive oil's richness in oleic acid and monounsaturated fat contributes to preventing heart diseases and others.

Over a hundred thousand men and women participated in this long-term study, conducted from 1990 to 2014. During the research, the scientists collected data on the participants' lifestyles and found that those who consumed at least half a teaspoon of olive oil daily experienced 15% fewer incidences of heart disease, stroke, and vascular disease.

According to the study's lead author, it's beneficial to get used to consuming olive oil instead of fats like margarine, butter, or mayonnaise. "It reduces the risk of heart and vascular diseases by five percent," she states.