Olive oil lovers and medical experts stressed, during a conference in Athens yesterday, the benefits to people’s health from consuming the oil, including reducing the risk of death among diabetes sufferers.

Recent studies have shown that consuming olive oil helps to reduce blood pressure and the possibility of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, said Antonia Trichopoulou, a professor at Athens Medical School.

Tests have also shown that people who suffer a heart attack are 31 percent less likely to die if they have been consuming olive oil as part of a Mediterranean diet.

The president of the Greek Olive Oil Society (Filaios), Paraskevas Tokouzbalidis, said that the average Greek consumes 18 kilos of olive oil a year but he added that harmful hydrogenated fats had begun to creep into the Greeks’ diet.