Flynn's plant-based, olive oil diet

I developed my plant-based, olive oil diet in 1999. I had been interested in the health benefits related to olive oil since the mid-1980’s when I first read the Seven Countries Study publications and other studies looking at the relationship of diet to health. While there have been articles that claim the Seven Countries Study had some flaws, the study clearly show that men in Greece and Italy who regularly used olive oil as their main fat and used liberal amounts daily had substantially lower rates of heart disease compared to men in the US who consumed on average comparable amounts of dietary fat, but in the US the dietary fat was from meat and vegetable seed oils. I saw this as strong evidence that while the total amount of fat in the diet likely did not matter, the dietary source of the fat did. This led me in the 1990’s to emphasize food in my talks, teaching, and patient counseling and not discuss nutrients, such as carbohydrate, protein, and fat / lipids.

The basic daily foods of the diet are:

• Extra virgin olive oil – minimum of two tablespoons, using one tablespoon per cup of vegetables for preparing the vegetables.

• Unlimited vegetables – you cannot eat too many vegetables. Try to weekly include cruciferous vegetables and processed tomato products, as they seem to have a strong role in prostate health compared to other vegetables.

• Fruit – up to two pieces of fruit per day. Fruit is not as consistently related to health compared to vegetables, so I do not emphasize fruit consumption as much as consuming vegetables.

• Starch – foods in the starch group are breads, legumes (beans), pasta, potatoes, rice and all grains (barley, quinoa, etc.) six to nine servings per day, with a serving being about an ounce dry weight. All starch foods are healthy. Whole grain versions have more nutrients and have been related to better body weight, but there are no health risks from consuming refined grains. Starch foods can be easy to overeat and if that leads to excess body fat, the excess body fat, regardless of how it is attained, is the health risk, not the consumption of starch.

• Optional items: nuts and seeds. Nuts are easy to overeat so they should be measured and preferably used as part of a meal (on breakfast cereal, on salads) and not eaten as snacks.

Dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, can be included. Also, eggs (no more than two at a meal due to calories) can also be included. Some studies relate excess consumption of milk with increasing prostate cancer risk so it is best to not drink more than a glass or two per day of milk and preferably just use it for cereals or coffee/ tea.

You can use the basic foods for the day to put together meals that would follow the daily guidelines. For example, an 1800 daily calorie diet could have meals that are as follows:

Breakfast could be 1 to 2 servings of starch; 2 tablespoons of nuts /nut butter or 1 tablespoon of EVOO; and 1 serving of fruit (try for deep color). Optional items could be dairy (milk or yogurt for cereal), or egg. A breakfast for an 1800 calorie diet should have about 400-500 calories.

Lunch could be 2 servings of starch; 2 (or more) servings of vegetables (try for deep color or cruciferous); 2 tablespoons of EVOO (to cook vegetables and/or to use for salad dressing); and 1-2 servings of fruit (try for deep color). Optional items could be legumes (beans), or egg. A lunch for an 1800 calorie diet should have about 600-700 calories.

Dinner would be the foods you have left from the daily total, which could be 3-4 servings of starch; 2 (or more) servings of vegetables (try for deep color or cruciferous); 2 tablespoons of EVOO (to cook vegetables and/or use for salad dressing); 1 serving of fruit (if you have fruit remaining from the daily total). Optional items could be grated cheese or legumes. A dinner for an 1800 calorie diet should have about 600-800 calories (depending on what you consumed in the earlier meals).

There is no one way or right way to start a diet. Some people want to change everything all at once, some want to start slow and just change a few meals each week. Try for a goal of three main meals per week that are plant-based and use EVOO but do not contain animal products, except dairy. I have shown in my research that changing just three main meals per week to one that is plant-based and includes extra virgin olive oil will lead to weight loss. ¹