Diet has an important role in the prevention and treatment of hypertension. In early
epidemiological studies, conducted mainly in the USA, monounsaturated fatty acids showed a deleterious association with blood pressure or no relationship at all.
However, more recent studies, conducted in Mediterranean countries, have shed new
light on this issue. In the present review we summarise the main results of
epidemiological studies and feeding trials, and explain the possible mechanisms
through which monounsaturated fatty acids, and specifically olive oil as the major
dietary source of this type of fat in Mediterranean countries, could exert a favourable effect on blood pressure
