Using this oil in place of butter can significantly reduce your risk of heart problems.
Because heart disease is still one of the major causes of death in the United States in the modern day, medical professionals are continually conducting research to determine how to avoid it and lessen the impact it has on our lives.
Numerous factors, ranging from genetics to lifestyle choices and everything in between, might play a role in the development of cardiovascular and heart illnesses. According to the CDC, important risk factors include having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight, consuming an unhealthy diet, and smoking or drinking alcohol in excess. Other risk factors include not getting enough exercise and not getting enough sleep.
As can be seen, a significant number of these potential dangers are associated with our eating habits and the foods that we regularly take in. And while there isn’t a single “wonder food” that will protect you from developing heart disease, experts are uncovering key dietary substitutions that may be made while you’re cooking in order to reduce the likelihood of developing the condition.
Recent studies have shown that substituting olive oil for butter or other types of saturated fats when cooking is one of the most beneficial habits a person can have.
Olive oil may be able to greatly enhance your heart health over time and lead to a lowered risk of developing heart disease if “unhealthy” lipids are substituted in their place with it.
Olive oil consumption was associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease in a research of over 60,000 women and 30,000 men that was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study was conducted on a population of over 80,000 people. The findings of the study led the researchers to the conclusion that consuming olive oil rather than margarine, butter, dairy fats, and mayonnaise is the factor that most significantly reduces the chance of developing these diseases.
But how exactly does this change in diet affect your cardiovascular system? Consuming higher quantities of saturated fat, for example, has been linked to an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease due to the fact that this type of fat can cause your cholesterol levels to become unbalanced. Because of this, the American Heart Association advises limiting your consumption of saturated fat to between 5 and 6 percent of your total daily calorie intake (or around 13 grammes for a 2,000-calorie diet).
To put that into perspective, there are around 7 grammes of saturated fat in one tablespoon of butter, but there are just slightly less than 2 grammes of saturated fat in one tablespoon of olive oil.
Olive oil possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities, which, according to a study published in the journal Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders, is another heart-healthy property of olive oil. These properties can help with the preservation of both the heart and overall health.
When you replace butter with olive oil in your cooking, you not only reduce the amount of saturated fat you consume while simultaneously raising the amount of good fats you consume, but you also provide your heart with beneficial antioxidants. Therefore, it is important for you to take care of your heart and proceed with making that adjustment.
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