It’s the Olive Oil, Stupid

What exactly is it about Mediterranean diets that allows people to eat fatty foods and enjoy low rates of heart disease?  Science News reports that after much study of many features of the famous diet (several daily servings of vegetables and fruits, only a small serving of red meat per day, few or no carbonated drinks, at
least three weekly meals including shellfish or legumes, few
commercially prepared pastries or sweets, servings of fowl or rabbit
instead of pork or other red meats, and plenty of peanuts and other
nuts) it comes down to olive oil.  New research suggests that In addition to much reported antioxidant benefits, triterpenes—waxy hydrocarbons that coat olive skins—appear to shut down the runaway proliferation of human colon cancer cells.
Read more about the health benefits of olive oil in Science News.