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Daniel Ullmann, DSc, MPH; William E. Connor, MD
Oregon Health Sciences University Portland

JAMA. 1990;263(23):3146.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Trevisan and colleagues¹ report a cross-sectional study in Italy that correlated the consumption of various fats with risk factors for coronary heart disease. An increased consumption of olive oil was associated with significantly lower levels of systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood cholesterol in Italian men and women. Several points about this study should be emphasized. First, the study estimated olive oil consumption only approximately by "low, medium, and high" amounts consumed. This was not a quantitative study, a fact that weakens the conclusions greatly. The difference in serum cholesterol levels between high and low consumers of olive oil was only 0.15 mmol/L, an amount that should not stimulate olive oil consumption. Second, the implication that a fat such as olive oil has a positive effect on health is misleading. Olive oil is low in saturated fat relative to butter and other saturated fats. Yet, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by Drummond Rennie, MD, Deputy Editor (West), and Don Riesenberg, MD, Senior Editor.

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