

Source: The Olive Oil Source
December 01, 1999

San Rafael - Some recent studies have suggested that not all monounsaturated fats are the same in their ability to lower cholesterol. Scientists at the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science in Germany fed hamsters a moderate amount of canola, olive, sunflower, or polyunsaturated palm oil. All the monounsaturated fats did better than the palm oil in lowering cholesterol and weren't significantly different from each other. This is good news for olive oil lovers if we can assume that similar effects would be found in humans. In a separate study, hamsters fed corn oil had significantly lower LDL and VLDL cholesterol concentrations than those fed olive oil. Unfortunately, HDL cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol, also dropped.