**1. Introduction**

Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet has long been associated with improved cardiovascular prognosis, chemoprevention, and lower incidence of neurodegeneration [1]. Mediterranean diets are quite variegated in composition, but share some common traits, as outlined by Martínez-González et al. [2]. Of the multiple components of the Mediterranean diet, the use of olive oil as a principal source of fat stands out because it is characteristic of the Mediterranean basin [3]. Indeed, in places like Crete, fat consumption reaches 40% of total calories, ye<sup>t</sup> nearly all of this comes from olive oil.

Historically, olive oil has been attributed religious characteristics and has also been used for cosmetic purposes [4]; its culinary/alimentary use has been overlooked until relatively recent times. Research on the biological properties of olive oil is even more recent and can be traced back to 1994, with the first publication reporting inhibition of low density lipoprotein oxidation by oleuropein (OLE), the bitter principle of olives [5]. It is noteworthy that this research was triggered by a publication authored by Papadopoulos et al. [6], where the authors indicated hydroxytyrosol (HT) as indispensable for olive oil stability.

When it comes to food and its components, it is incorrect to talk about pharmacology and pharmacological activities. Pharmacology follows obligatory pathways that bring a drug to the market. Of note, drugs have measurable effects on the human body, whereas foods and their components are necessarily weaker in their actions [7]. The area in which dietary molecules are being studied is called pharma-nutrition, in that it transcends pure nutrition (calories, macronutrient proportions, etc.), ye<sup>t</sup> does not concern therapy and purely medicinal actions.

In this paper we briefly review pharma-nutritional evidence from the last decade that indicates how extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) components might exert important physiological actions that bring about cardioprotection, chemoprevention, and prevention of neurodegenerative processes. Then, as several other reviews are available (e.g., [3,8]), we focus on the latest findings addressing molecular mechanisms of action.

#### **2. Pharma-Nutritional Actions: A Summary of Recent Evidence**
