Does olive oil make you fat? While olive oil is clearly high in calories, the key to avoiding extra pounds is to enjoy olive oil and other calorie-rich foods in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

No matter what foods you eat, you only gain weigh when you eat more calories than your body needs for energy. You could potentially consume nothing but olive oil and never gain a pound as long as you didn't take in more calories than your body needs. However, there's no doubt you'd certainly suffer nutritionally because of the lack of a balanced diet.

Still, olive oil has a “diet-busting” reputation, said livestrong.com. That’s because olive oil is high in calories, and its high-caloric content comes chiefly from its fats.

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But a study published in 2010 showed that while eating too much fat can bring about weight gain, including olive oil in a reduced-calorie diet may increase your chances of success.

Researchers placed overweight breast-cancer survivors on either a low-fat diet or one enriched with olive oil for eight weeks and found that the olive-oil group lost more weight.

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After the initial trial, the women were able to choose between the two diets. They overwhelmingly chose the olive-oil plan, which indicated that olive oil increased satisfaction with the diet.

Olive oil is similar in calorie and fat content to canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, butter, and margarine. But its high ratio of monounsaturated, or “good” fat, to saturated, or “bad” fat, qualifies it as one of the healthiest oils for consumption. Olive oil is naturally cholesterol free and helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

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