Well, people have all sorts of opinions on this hot topic but there seems to be some recent scientific evidence to support claims made about a specific diet and certain foods.

In June this year, while reading the Sydney Morning Herald, I came across this article about a study released which investigated the Mediterranean diet and its effect on health and mortality.  The research results can be found here but in summary, the study found that there were clear benefits in combining key components of the Mediterranean diet, such as plenty of vegetables and olive oil, and that higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a statistically significant reduction in total mortality.  Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos, from the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study, said:

“The analysis suggests that the dominant components of the Mediterranean diet are moderate consumption of alcohol, mostly in the form of wine during meals, as is traditional in the Mediterranean countries, low consumption of meat and meat products, and high consumption of vegetables, fruits and nuts and olive oil”

Now, adding a bit more olive oil into your daily diet doesn’t just mean splashing some more of it into your frying pan!  Here are some simple ways to enjoy more olive oil daily:

• Replace butter or margarine with olive oil on your toast or sandwiches 
• Instead of using butter or cream when cooking mash potato or pumpkin, use olive oil to get a smooth consistency and extra flavour
• Another good trick is to replace bottled salad dressing with flavoured or infused olive oil
• And finally, my favourite fresh dessert tip is to slice an orange into flat sections, mix a dash of quality extra virgin olive oil with some honey and drizzle the sweet syrup over the top.  Trust me, it’s delicious!

If you have any additional tips please share them as I’d love to know.