Larry Rudell of the Wake Forest School of Medicine presented results of studies on the effects of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats on coronary heart disease and monkeys. And his findings cast a shadow of doubt on the healthfulness of olive oil, maybe the most popular monounsaturated fat.
In the experiment, Rudell's researchers fed monkeys monounsaturated fats in the context of a normal American diet.
�Something like the Mediterranean diet is quite unlike that. There's more fiber, legumes, and vegetables.�
While the monounsaturated fat had the best ratio of good to bad cholesterol, it performed as poorly as the saturated fat when it came to protecting the primates from heart disease.
�My instinct is that a ( Mediterranean ) diet is successful not because of the olive oil but despite it,� he said.
Rudell believes that reported positive effects of monounsaturated fats have everything to do with the context of the consumption.
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