It's true that high-quality olive oil (fresh and not cooked) is not unhealthy, but other oils considered to be "monounsaturates" are, such as canola and rapeseed. I noticed that a lot of "junk food" now contains rapeseed oil, which can be very dangerous. The problem is that many if not most "nutritional experts" seem to feel compelled to think in terms of abstract categories that do not correspond to any reality. Rapeseed oil contains not only significant amounts of omega 3s, which go rancid quickly, but also contain significant amounts of Erucic acid, which is monounsaturated, but very unhealthy. I saw a TV show about a medical examiner, and it was a case of a young, obese woman who died for no apparent reason. It turned out to be thrombosis, but the ME pointed out the the woman's heart had an incredible amount of pulmonary fibrosis.
The Merck Source Dictionary has this to say about Erucic acid:
QUOTE: ...a monounsaturated 22-carbon fatty acid occurring as a major constituent of most rapeseed and mustard oils. Because erucic acid has been linked to cardiac muscle damage, edible canola oil products are prepared from low erucic acid varieties of rapeseed plants... UNQUOTE.
Source: http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_dorlands.jspz
QzpgzEzzSzppdocszSzuszSzcommonzSzdorlandszSzdorlandzSzdmd_e_14zPzhtm
And here is some actual evidence:
QUOTE: ...Various hypotheses has been put forward to explain the high incidence of conduction system disorders in the Eastern part of the country. Mustard oil is the usual cooking medium in the Eastern part of the country. Erucic acid content of Mustard oil is around 48%. Studies conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research [4] has shown erucic acid content in all the 50 heart samples obtained from Calcutta (Eastern part of India) while none of the samples from Trivandrum or Madras (South India) showed any trace of erucic acid. The cooking medium in the latter regions is coconut oil, with no erucic acid content. Erucic acid has been shown to produce myocardial fibrosis and lipidosis... UNQUOTE.
Source: Indian Pacing Electrophysiol J. 2002 April–June; 2(2): 57�?1. Published online 2002 April 1.
And today there was the following report:
QUOTE: Mortality rates from pulmonary fibrosis (PF) have increased significantly in recent years, and are predicted to continue to rise, according to researchers from the University of Colorado... UNQUOTE.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070801091334.htm
It just amazes me how clear the evidence is and yet how misguided or outright wrong the advice given by most "experts" is.
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