Olive oil, long considered a heart-healthy ingredient, may be doing double duty as a potent stroke preventer as well.

That’s the finding of researchers in France, who compared the cooking habits of 7,625 people older than 65.

They found that those people who cooked with copious amounts of olive oil reduced their risk of stroke by 41 percent, compared with people who didn’t use olive oil at all.

That’s a big difference. And it means that olive oil soon may find itself listed among long-established stroke-prevention principles such as limiting your salt intake and stopping smoking.

There is a caveat, however. The researchers didn’t test the consumption of olive oil by itself, but looked at it combined with other ingredients, in cooking, or when it was used as a dressing ingredient. Therefore, it’s possible that the protective effects against stroke also come from the foods consumed, and not just from the olive oil.

Time will tell whether these findings hold up. But regardless of whether olive oil is particularly effective in preventing strokes, it remains a delicious and heart-healthy choice in the kitchen.