Almost 50% of all deaths are attributed to inflammatory related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease. Recently, cardiologists have discovered the benefits of the Mediterranean diet on lessening inflammation, since it is composed of high amounts of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seafood, beans, nuts and extra-virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), specifically, has received recent attention for its potential to positively affect inflammation. Previous research has demonstrated the drastic inflammatory changes patients can undergo when adhering to the Mediterranean diet. While factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and acceptability have been assessed, the independent effects of olive oil on the gut microbiome composition has not. Since the gut microbiome is often indicative of diet changes, we can potentially identify synthetic drugs which would increase the levels of gut bacterial species whose levels are aided by the Mediterranean diet. Our goal will be to identify the impact of EVOO on the gut microbiome composition of patients in a five week study. Patients will be given a 16s RNS ribosomal sequencing test on a bi-weekly basis to determine their gut microbiome composition, and to identify the prevalence of various bacterial communities. Data will be restricted to the common cardiovascular health bacterial family, Firmicutes, and analyzed. Firmicutes was isolated in the experiment as the independent effects of olive oil have not been studied on this particular species. The experiment will demonstrate the increase of Firmicutes strains over the five week period and thus, highlight the gut microbiome’s ability to indicate inflammatory health changes.