Foods from Spain: Olive Oil, the Mediterranean Diet and Health
Foods from Spain is the marketing department of the Commercial Office of the Embassy of Spain in New York. It actively supports and promotes Spain's food industry in the United States. Its activities include conducting market research; acting as a liaison between importers and exporters, and matching retailers with potential sources for products; and advertising the many flavorful, healthy foods of Spain.
Introduction to Health Benefits of The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean cuisine continues to be one of America's favorite culinary experiences. The wide variety of flavors and the simplicity of these dishes continue to entice us to eat more vegetables, grains, and seafood and raise the awareness for quality ingredients. Numerous studies suggestion that adopting a Mediterranean diet can also reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. This evidence was first introduced to us by Ancel Keys during the early 1960's in the Seven Countries Study. The Seven Countries Study found that populations in the Mediterranean region not only had the lowest levels of heart disease in the world but also lower levels of cancer, diabetes, and obesity. The important conclusion was that these lower trends of disease were associated with a high intake of olives and nuts, (monounsaturated fat), and low intakes of butter and animal fats (saturated fat). The message being that when it comes to being healthier, the type of dietary fat matters more than the actual amount of fat eaten. Another landmark study, the Lyon Trial, also confirmed the same message. In this study, the Mediterranean diet decreased the risk of coronary heart disease by half. This effect was greater than what was seen in other trials using cholesterol lowering drugs. The incidence of cancer in the Mediterranean countries is also lower than in the Westernized populations, such as the United States. In particular, the type of cancers related to dietary factors (large bowel, breast, endometrial, and prostate). A recent study by Trichopoulou, estimates that up to 25 percent of the incidence of colorectal cancer, 15 percent of breast cancer, and 10 percent of prostate, pancreas, and endometrial cancers could be prevented if populations of highly westernized countries would change their eating habits to reflect the traditional Mediterranean diet.
Food Industry Perspective
Many health-conscious diners expect to sacrifice flavor for what they perceive as "healthy," perhaps because we in the food industry have been led to believe that the emphasis on healthy cooking should be focused solely on reducing the amount of fat in the dish. Today, the cornerstones of healthy cooking are the quality of ingredients, nutrient density in the foods, moderation, variety, balance, and—of course—flavor. Mediterranean cuisine is largely plant-based, with common ingredients: olive, wheat, and wine. Fresh seasonal vegetables are so important that they are served as a dish in their own right. The various cooking techniques, ingredients, spices, and herbs which exist today reflect cross-cultural influences from the east and west. The presence of the sea, the absence of rainfall and the often searing temperatures of this Southern climate shaped the region's food supply. Examples include:
- Limited amount of meat and dairy products
- Dairy products largely consumed as cheese or yogurt
- Olive oil as the principal fat (the olive tree is native to the region and grows well throughout the coastal zone)
- Extensive use of fish and shellfish in coastal Mediterranean areas
The Spanish cuisine, an important contributor to the Mediterranean diet, is also centered on olive oil, olives, nuts, and an abundant amount of fruits, vegetables, and legumes. It also includes flavorful ingredients which can not be forgotten. These include Spanish wine and variety of hams and cheeses. Modest portions of these ingredients go a long way for adding flavor to lean ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and salads.
Olive Oil
For hundreds of years, frying different foods in olive oil has been an important contribution to the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet. Frying with extra virgin olive oil and refined olive oil is superior to vegetable/seed oils and hydrogenated fats from a nutritional standpoint and a stability factor. The monounsaturated fatty acids of olive oil as well as the natural antioxidants of olive oil, Vitamin E, and polyphenolics, provide nutrients and stability to the oil during high temperature cooking.
Olive Oil and Health
Olive oil, the principal dietary fat of this cuisine, is primarily comprised of oleic acid (approximately 75 percent of the total fatty acids), and linoleic acid (approximately 10 percent of the total fatty acids). Olive oil also contains other minor components, many acting as antioxidants, such as tocopherols, carotenoids, chlorophyll phytosterols, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds which offer protective health benefits. Recently Etherton, et al., provided interesting data for the varying effects on cardiovascular risk reduction within the different sources of monounsaturated fats. The study found that diets moderately high in total fat and comprised primarily of monounsaturated fat offered more cardiovascular disease protection than the conventional Step II American Heart Association diet (a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet). Another important finding was that olive oil provided the greatest amount of cardiovascular risk reduction as compared to other monounsaturated fats such as peanut oil and peanuts. The low-fat high-carbohydrate diet actually created a new problem—that is, it did lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein, but it also decreased the amount of high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol) and increased blood trigylcerides levels.
Extra virgin olive oil is unique in the sense that it is not extracted from seeds by the use of solvents or heat, like most vegetable oils. The oil is obtained from the whole fruit by using the cold press technique which is considered desirable because of the high quality oils that can be extracted in this manner. The cold pressing technique preserves and transfers the natural components of the fruit into the oil. The amount and variety of the minor components transferred to the oil depends on several factors: cultivar, soil, degree of fruit ripeness, and production and storage of the oil. The antioxidant effects of these natural components are beneficial against diseases and are also active in the oil during storage and high temperature cooking. In addition, these minor components provide the flavor and aroma of the oil. Most of the minor components found in extra virgin olive oil are phenolic in structure, ranging in amounts of 50-1000 mg/kg. Oleuropein is the most abundant phenolic in the fruit, approximately 14 percent of the dry weight. It is responsible for the bitter tastes of olives and for the browning of the olive skin. Levels of oleuropein slowly decline as the fruit matures, yielding several simpler molecules that build the full, fruity taste of the oil. High quality oils are characterized by a presence of phenols, often recognized by the flavors ranging from artichokes and peppers to more fruit-like flavors. The versatility of olive oil is related to flavor, in that some have wide ranges of flavors and other categories of olive oil have no flavor at all. Olive oil can be extra virgin or undergo different levels of refinement. In all cases, extra virgin or refined olive oil maintains the healthy monounsaturated fatty acid profile.
References
Etherton, P., et al High monounsaturated fatty acid diets lower both plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations 1999 Am J Clin Nutr. 70; 1009-15.
Trichopoulou, A, et al Cancer and Mediterranean dietary traditions. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000;9:869 -73.
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Keys, A. Seven Countries: A multivariate analysis of death and coronary heart disease. Cambridge , MA . Harvard University Press, 1980.
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Michels, K.B., et al. Prospective study of fruit and vegetable consumption and incidence of colon and rectal cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000; 92:1740-52.
Trichopoulou, A. and Papas, A. Mediterranean diet: Are antioxidants central to it's benefits. CRC Press 1998.
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