A health expert has highlighted a particular "superfood" that could potentially lower your chances of developing heart disease, stroke and even cancer. According to Tim Spector, it's something we should all contemplate incorporating into our daily regimen.

We're all acutely aware of the profound influence diet has on our overall health and wellbeing. The NHS, along with other health organisations, advocate for a balanced diet encompassing fruits, vegetables, high fibre starchy foods, protein, and dairy or dairy substitutes.

They also advise keeping saturated fat, salt and sugar intake to a minimum. However, Tim has pointed out that there's a specific kind of healthy fat we should all be consuming more frequently.

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In a video shared on his Instagram profile, Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and creator of the Zoe Health app, championed olive oil. He said: "If I did believe in 'superfoods', extra virgin olive oil would be one of them."

He suggested that regular consumption of extra virgin olive oil could help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Tim continued: "In the 1960s it was noted that Mediterranean countries had significantly less heart disease than northern European countries and people thought it was something in their diet.

"They thought it was just it was about the wine or the lifestyle, they didn't really know what it was. And it turns out the amount of fats consumed in Mediterranean countries was actually, quite high, which went against the theories of 20 years ago that fats were bad for you.

"But it turns out the main source of fats in the Mediterranean is olive oil. " Subsequent research revealed the health advantages of olive oil. Tim explained: "Gradually more and more studies have shown that people who drink olive oil regularly have significantly lower rates of heart disease, stroke and increasingly the evidence is that cancer is less.

"There're at least 30 studies of observational cohorts showing this. " He pointed to a particular study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018.

"There haven't been any large-scale long-term studies until 2018 when they did something called the predimed study," Tim noted.

"They were delivering large amounts of olive oil to 7,000 Spaniards, large amounts of mixed nuts to another group, another group were just giving the standard Mediterranean meals, and they followed them up for six years.

"This clearly showed that the olive oil group had these really significant reductions in heart disease and strokes and breast cancer. They were giving them the equivalent of about four tablespoons a day, which actually is not far off some levels you'd have in bits of Greece, for example, but 100 times more than you get in the UK or the US."

The study's authors stated: "In this study involving persons at high cardiovascular risk, the incidence of major cardiovascular events was lower among those assigned to a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts than among those assigned to a reduced-fat diet. "

That said, it's important to remember that olive oil, despite these advantages, remains calorie-dense – with four tablespoons clocking in at 476 calories. Consuming extra virgin olive oil sensibly is therefore advised.

In a caption accompanying the video, Tim explained: "While many of us were taught to fear fat, research shows that diets rich in extra virgin olive oil are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Many of these benefits are attributed to the high polyphenol count of extra virgin olive oil. Not only do these polyphenols exert powerful anti-inflammatory effects, but they also promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, contributing to gut health."