February is American Heart Month [1]. And although heart disease is often thought of as a “man’s disease,” the reality is very different. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States and research shows that women’s symptoms are often under-recognized and under-treated. Thus, paying attention to heart-healthy habits, like including polyphenols in your diet, is as crucial for women as is it for men.
A recent study found that women who consistently consumed polyphenol-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, tea, cocoa, and olives, had a lower long-term risk of cardiovascular disease. Here’s what the research found, and why polyphenols are an important part of this heart-health story. Researchers from King’s College London [2] analyzed data from the TwinsUK registry, one of the world’s longest-running nutrition and health research studies, to better understand how habitual polyphenol intake relates to cardiovascular risk over time.
Study Details
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3,110 adults from the United Kingdom
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Mostly women (96.7%), middle-aged to older adults
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Average age: 51.8 years at baseline
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Followed for an average of 11.2 years
Participants completed validated food frequency questionnaires to estimate long-term dietary intake of polyphenols. Based on this information, they were categorized into low, moderate, or high polyphenol intake groups. Researchers tracked:
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Blood pressure and cholesterol levels
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10-year cardiovascular risk
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Lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity, and medication use
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Urinary polyphenol metabolites
What Researchers Found
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Higher polyphenol intake was associated with a lower 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease
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Participants with the highest polyphenol intake showed a significantly lower heart disease risk over time
The Most Important Finding…
One of the most important insights from this study isn’t just that polyphenols matter—it’s how they matter over time. Participants with the lowest cardiovascular risk consumed polyphenols consistently, day after day, for more than a decade. This pattern closely mirrors the traditional Mediterranean diet, where olives and olive oil are a daily staple and serve as foundational sources of polyphenols.
Why Do Olive Polyphenols Support Long-Term Heart Health?
Olives contain a distinctive family of polyphenols, including hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and oleuropein—compounds that have been widely studied for their cardiovascular-supporting properties, including:
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Reducing oxidative stress that contributes to vascular aging
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Supporting blood vessel function
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Protecting LDL (bad) cholesterol from oxidative damage
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Reducing inflammation
The Takeaway: Small Daily Choices, Long-Term Heart Health Impact
The UK study reinforces a simple but powerful idea: heart health is built cumulatively. Small, repeatable choices shape cardiovascular risk over decades. In Mediterranean populations, olive-derived polyphenols aren’t an occasional add-on; they are a daily constant. This consistency may help explain why Mediterranean-style diets are repeatedly linked to better heart outcomes [3]. The UK study adds long-term human research to what nutrition science has been suggesting for years: polyphenol-rich diets support cardiovascular resilience—especially when followed consistently over time.
But that’s not always easy.
For those who want to support a polyphenol-rich lifestyle, Olivino Essential provides a convenient source of polyphenols to complement a heart-healthy diet and long-term wellness routine. The Olive fruit extract in Olivino Essential is unique. Why? Because it is derived from Coratina Olives, a highly prized varietal grown in Southern Italy. Coratina olives not only contain all the major polyphenolics of the olive fruit—they also contain significant levels of verbascoside. Verbascoside is considered the most potent antioxidant in olives and is also known for its anti-inflammatory properties--important for cellular health and anti-aging.
As American Heart Month reminds us, prevention should be a daily practice. And sometimes, it’s about finding simple, sustainable ways to bring time-tested dietary ingredients—like those found in Olivino Essential—into modern life.
To your good health!
[1] American Heart Month | NHLBI, NIH
