An Italy based research has found that olive oil and green leafy vegetables add more years to our life by protecting our heart.

They found that women with intake of at least 1 serving of leafy veggies per day were 40% less likely to have heart problem as compared to women taking 2 or less servings per week, over the span of eight years.

Women taking at least 3 tablespoons of olive oil too showed positive signs with the 40% less chances of getting heart problems in comparison to those having less or no olive oil.

Citing that the reasons for this result are still not clear, Domenico Palli of the Cancer Research and Prevention Institute in Florence told Reuters Health said that it is maybe because the mechanisms responsible for the protective effect of plant-origin foods on cardiovascular diseases involve micronutrients such as folate, antioxidant vitamins and potassium are all present in green leafy veggies.

It is not the first time that the green veggies and olive oil have been proved as the protectors of heart. Earlier also, the traditional Mediterranean diet which composes vegetables and monounsaturated fats in large quantities from olive oil and dry nuts, has been found the reason for low risk of heart problems.