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Benefits of Olive Oil

 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is liquid gold, renowned for its excellent food quality and nutritional value: derived from the first pressing of the olives, it has the most delicate flavour and most antioxidant benefits. 
When nutrition experts began studying the eating habits of different populations, they found that the diet of Mediterranean countries, consisting of vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish, olive oil and wine, could be the explanation for the reduced cholesterol levels compared with Northern Europe or North America. The Mediterranean diet has proved very beneficial in preventing cardiovascular diseases and other pathologies because pure  Extra Virgin Olive Oil is not only a light and delicate addition to many wonderful dishes, it is also one of the most health-promoting types of oils available. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats which, according to researchers, have excellent health benefits.

1-Protection Against Chronic Degenerative Disease

            In many parts of the world, a high fat intake is associated with degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, asthma, colon cancer, and arthritis. But in some parts of the world, a high fat intake is actually associated with lower rates of these conditions. An in-depth study of the foods eaten in these areas reveals that the high fat intake is actually due to the generous use of olive oil. Comparing these areas, such as the Mediterranean, where olive oil is the main fat used, to other regions like the United States, where other fats (animal fats, hydrogenated fats and corn oil) dominate, gives food for thought. It turns out that people who use olive oil regularly, especially as an alternative to other fats, have much lower rates of heart disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and asthma.

            To live longer, it is recommended to follow an olive oil-rich Mediterranean-style diet. Indeed, in a prospective study (that is to say one in which participants are chosen and then followed in time) involving 5,611 adults aged 60 or more, adherence to a Mediterranean style dietary pattern - characterised by high consumption of olive oil, raw vegetables, soups, and poultry - was associated with a significantly lower risk of death from all causes.

            After 6.2 years, those most closely following a Mediterranean 'olive oil and salad' dietary pattern had a 50% reduced risk of overall mortality. Much less favourable were the results seen in those most closely following a 'pasta and meat' dietary pattern - characterized by pasta, tomato sauce, red meat, processed meat, added animal fat, white bread and wine - whose overall mortality risk increased. Therefore the study authors concluded, "Dietary recommendations aimed at the Italian elderly population should support a dietary pattern characterized by a high consumption of olive oil, raw vegetables and poultry." (Masala G, Ceroti M, et al., Br J Nutr.)

2-Olive Oil Highly Protective against Heart Disease

            “Relying only on olive oil may cut your risk of coronary heart disease almost in half”, is the conclusion of a CARDIO2000 case-control study, published in Clinical Cardiology (Kontogianni MD, Panagiotakos DB, et al.). Conducted in Greece, and involving 700 men and 148 women with coronary heart disease, and 1078 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals as a base, this study looked not only at diet but also at alcohol intake, physical activity and smoking habits. Nutritional habits, including use of oils in daily cooking or preparation of food, was also evaluated.

            Even after adjustments were made to account for a variety of other variables (body mass index, smoking, physical activity level, educational status, family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes) the exclusive use of olive oil was associated with a 47% lower likelihood of having coronary heart disease. Consuming other fats or oils as well as olive oil, however, conferred no protection. The researchers concluded, "Exclusive use of olive oil during food preparation seems to offer significant protection against coronary heart disease, irrespective of various clinical, lifestyle and other characteristics of the participants."

            As a result, on November 2004, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S.A permitted a claim on olive oil labels concerning: "the benefits on the risk of coronary heart disease of eating about two tablespoons (23 g) of olive oil daily, due to the monounsaturated fat (MUFA) in olive oil." Indeed, 'The studies on olive oil’s benefits  represents a key piece for recommendations and contributes information with great repercussions for the community, especially in populations or countries where olive oil does not comprise the habitual oil of the diet."

            Extra virgin olive oil may cost a bit more than lesser quality oils, but the significant increase in cardiovascular benefits, not to mention richer flavour it provides, make it an extremely good investment in your health.

 

3-Protective against High Cholesterol Levels

            Normally, after a meal, endothelial function is impaired for several hours. Blood vessels become less elastic, and blood levels of free radicals potentially harmful to cholesterol (lipoperoxides and 8-epi prostaglandin-F2) rise. But when the subjects in this study ate a breakfast containing virgin olive oil with its normal high phenolic content (400 ppm), their endothelial function actually improved, blood levels of nitric oxide (a blood vessel-relaxing compound produced by the endothelium) increased significantly, and far fewer free radicals were present than would normally be seen after a meal. However, when they ate the same breakfast with olive oil whose phenolic content had been reduced to 80 ppm, the beneficial effects were virtually absent, and concentrations of cholesterol-damaging free radicals increased. The results of this study underscore the importance of knowing how to select, store and serve your olive oil to maximize its polyphenol content.

            Studies on olive oil and atherosclerosis reveal that particles of LDL cholesterol (the potentially harmful cholesterol) in olive oil fat are less likely to become oxidized. Since only oxidized cholesterol sticks to artery walls, eventually forming the plaques that can lead to a heart attack or stroke, preventing the oxidation of cholesterol is a good way to help preventing atherosclerosis. A recent in vitro study also showed that polyphenolic compounds present in olive oil, including oleuropein, inhibit the adhesion of monocyte cells to the blood vessel lining, a process that is involved in the development of atherosclerosis. In addition, when people with high cholesterol levels removed the saturated fat from their diets and replaced it with olive oil, their total cholesterol levels dropped an average of 13.4%, and their LDL cholesterol levels dropped by 18%.

            A study published in the Medical Science Monitor reported that 2 tablespoons a day of olive oil added to an otherwise unchanged diet in 28 outpatients, ranging in age from 64 to 71, resulted in significant drops in total- and LDL cholesterol. Mean concentrations of total cholesterol were lowered by 0.818 mmol/L, and mean concentrations of LDL dropped 0.782 mmol/L. Plus, subjects ratio of HDL: LDL greatly improved; they ended up with higher amounts of protective HDL in relation to lower amounts of dangerous LDL cholesterol.

            Three other recent studies (Valavanidis et al.; Morella et al.; Masella et al.) suggest that such properties are not only due to olive oil’s high content of monounsaturated fats, but also to its hefty concentration of antioxidants, including chlorophyll, carotenoids and the polyphenolic compounds tyrosol, hydrotyrosol and oleuropein- all of which have free radical scavenging abilities whilst protecting the vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) found in olive oil.

Greek scientists at the University of Athens reporting their research in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry believe that the synergy of all these beneficial nutrients is the corner stone of the Mediterranean diet, a hypothesis supported by Italian research published in the Journal of Nutrition. In this study, scientists found that the phenols in olive oil have very potent antioxidant effects. The protective effects exerted by extra virgin olive oil biophenols, namely, protocatechuic acid and oleuropein, against LDL oxidation included:

• completely preventing LDL's oxidation when placed in a medium containing macrophage-like cells (in the arteries, arteriosclerosis begins when macrophages damage LDL, starting the development of foam cells that infiltrate the lining of the artery and begin plaque formation)

• inhibiting the production of two powerful oxidants that would normally have been produced and would have damaged LDL, thus preventing the expected decrease in glutathione, a powerful antioxidant the body produces to disarm oxidants (also called free radicals)

• restoring to normal levels the protective activities of two free radical-disarming enzymes that contain glutathione: glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase

• inducing higher than normal production and activity of both of these glutathione-containing enzymes.

• and finally, by reducing both inflammation and free radical damage to cholesterol, dietary olive oil protects the endothelium, the lining of our blood vessels, helping to maintain its ability to relax and dilate (thus preventing high blood pressure).

 

4- Extra Virgin Olive Oil's Ability to Lower Blood Pressure

            Theodora Psaltopoulou and colleagues from the University of Athens, Greece investigated whether the Mediterranean diet as a whole, or just olive oil, is responsible for the reduction in blood pressure associated with this way of eating. Their finding: while the diet as a whole reduces blood pressure, olive oil, by itself, is largely responsible.

            The Greek team examined the ability of the total diet and of olive oil alone to reduce arterial blood pressure. Their study included over 20,000 Greek participants who were free of hypertension (high blood pressure) when the study began. Food frequency questionnaires were completed and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were taken. Data analysis confirmed that the Mediterranean diet as a whole was significantly associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure as were olive oil, vegetables and fruit. On the other hand, consumption of cereals, meat and meat products, and alcohol intake was associated with higher blood pressure. When the effects of olive oil and vegetables were compared, olive oil was found to be responsible for the dominant beneficial effect on blood pressure.

5- Extra Virgin Olive Oil against Breast Cancer

          “Olive oil may be the key reason that eating a Mediterranean diet reduces breast cancer risk”, suggests a laboratory study published in the Annals of Oncology. Oleic acid, the main monounsaturated fatty acid in olive oil, has been shown to reduce the expression of the Her-2/neu oncogene, which is associated with the aggressive growth of breast cancer tumours. High levels of Her-2/neu are found in one-fifth of breast cancers, especially those that are resistant to treatment.

            In this study, when Menendez and his colleagues from North western University in Chicago exposed two strains of aggressive breast cancer cells to oleic acid, levels of Her-2/neu dropped 46%. When they combined oleic acid with lower levels than are normally used of Herceptin, a drug used to treat breast cancer, oleic acid greatly enhanced the effectiveness of the drug, dropping Her-2/neu expression as much as 70%. The end result: oleic acid promoted the apoptotic cell death (suicide) of aggressive, treatment resistant breast cancer cells.

A human study adds to the evidence that olive oil is a key factor in the lowering of breast cancer risk associated with a Mediterranean diet. Results of this two-year long study involving 755 women in the Canary Islands suggest that monounsaturated fat and, specifically, olive oil exert a protective effect against breast cancer. Among women consuming the most olive oil, specifically, the risk of breast cancer was even lower. Compared to those consuming the least olive oil, women whose daily intake of olive oil was at least 8.8 grams, the equivalent of just .65 tablespoon/day, had a 73% lower risk of breast cancer risk!

6- Better Blood Sugar Control

            Compared to diets high in saturated fat and low fat, high carbohydrate diets, a number of studies have shown that olive oil-rich diets not only reduce LDL cholesterol levels, but also lower blood sugar levels and decrease insulin requirements in persons with type 2 diabetes. Studies in diabetic patients have shown that healthy meals that contained some olive oil had better effects on blood sugar even than healthy meals that were low in fat. When olive oil is used to enhance a low-saturated fat, high carbohydrate diabetic diet, the diet still has beneficial effects on blood sugar control. In addition to this, a good diabetic diet with some olive oil added helps to keep triglyceride levels low. Triglyceride levels tend to be high in diabetic patients, which is a problem since high levels also contribute to the development of heart disease. So a high carbohydrate, healthy diabetic diet with some olive oil added in can help for several reasons.

7- Extra Virgin Olive Oil helps prevent belly fat and lose fat

            What you eat may affect where fat deposits on your body. Belly fat is associated with insulin resistance, which leads to further weight gain and increases risk of type 2 diabetes. When researchers fed type 2 diabetic patients different diets - a high carbohydrate diet, or a diet rich in either saturated fat or olive oil (Mediterranean diet) - the high carbohydrate diet increased abdominal fat compared to the fat-rich diets. Of the three diets, the diet rich in olive oil did best, preventing not only belly fat accumulation, but the insulin resistance and drop in adiponectin seen after the high carbohydrate diet meals.

            Adiponectin, a hormone produced and secreted by fat cells (adipocytes), regulates sugar and fat metabolism, improves insulin sensitivity, and has anti-inflammatory effects on the cells lining the blood vessel walls. Low blood levels of adiponectin are a marker for metabolic syndrome, are common in obesity, and are also associated with increased heart attack risk. In conclusion, your diet supplies not just calories but information. The instructions delivered to your cells by a Mediterranean-type diet rich in monounsaturated fat from olive oil and nuts will improve your sensitivity to insulin, lower your blood sugar, and help prevent fat from collecting around your middle. (Paniagua JA, Gallego de la Sacristana A, et al., Diabetes Care)

            To go even further, substituting olive oil, a monounsaturated fat or MUFA, for saturated fat in your diet can translate into a small but significant loss of both body weight and fat mass without changing anything else about your diet or increasing your physical activity, suggests a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. One of the most interesting facts about this research is that it was conducted on eight overweight or obese men, ranging in age from 24 to 49 years. All the men followed one of two diets for 4 weeks each. The first, saturated fat-rich diet provided 24% of calories from saturated fat, 13% from monounsaturated fat, and 3% from polyunsaturated fat, while in the second MUFA-rich diet, 11% of calories came from saturated fats, 22% from monounsaturated fat and 7% from polyunsaturated fat. At the end of the MUFA-rich diet, despite the fact that no significant differences were detected in caloric intake, energy expenditure or physical activity, the men were 2.1 kg lighter and their fat mass had decreased by 2.6 kg.

            Additional support for olive oil's fat burning effects comes from another study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, which suggests that the monounsaturated fats found in olive oil cause an increase in the breakdown of fats in fat cells (adipocytes). In this study, 45 laboratory animals were divided into three groups, each of which was fed a diet supplying normal energy but a different type of fat: olive oil, palmitic acid or soybean oil + palmitic acid. At the end of the study, a number of indicators of fat metabolism were measured including body weight, plasma leptin, tissue concentration of fatty acids, fat-cell size, fat cell lipolytic (fat breakdown) activity, and the capacity of insulin to inhibit fat breakdown. In the animals receiving monounsaturated fats, not only was fat breakdown greater, but insulin's ability to block it was lower.

8- Anti-Inflammatory Properties

            As far as other diseases go, regular use of olive oil has been associated with lower rates of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. The monounsaturated fats in olive oil are used by the body to produce substances which are relatively anti-inflammatory. By reducing inflammation, these fats can help reduce the severity of arthritis symptoms, and may be able to prevent or reduce the severity of asthma.

            Minor components of extra virgin olive oil-namely, its squalene, beta-sitosterol and tyrosol -may help explain why the Mediterranean diet has shown such beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and cancer prevention, suggests a study published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine. It is generally accepted in the medical community that excessive production of free radicals and inflammatory compounds derived from the body's use of omega-6 fatty acids (found primarily in meats, corn, safflower and sunflower oils) contributes to the development of both cardiovascular disease and cancer. In this study, researchers tested the effects of squalene, beta-sitosterol and tyrosol on a number of free radicals as well as on inflammatory compounds produced from omega-6 fats (arachidonic acid metabolites). In each case, the olive oil compounds either significantly inhibited production of the problem-causing molecules or rendered them harmless.

            So, could olive oil become the new anti-inflammatory standby? Someday soon, your doctor may recommend Extra Virgin Olive Oil to prevent your aches and pains, and reduce your risk of cancer, suggests a study led by Pennsylvania biologist Dr. Gary Beauchamp and published in Nature. Inspired by a tasting experience at a molecular gastronomy meeting in Sicily, where he noticed that high quality olive oil produced a throat-stinging sensation similar to that caused by ibuprofen, Beauchamp and his team analyzed freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil and discovered a compound that suppresses the prostaglandin system, the same pain pathway as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, such as ibuprofen.

            Although its chemical structure is quite different from the anti-inflammatory compounds in non-steroidal drugs, olive oil's anti-inflammatory component, which Beauchamp named "oleocanthal," has a similar effect. A 50 gram dose (about 4 tablespoons) of extra-virgin olive oil supplies enough oleocanthal to produce an effect equivalent to that of about 10% of the ibuprofen dose recommended for adult pain relief. While this amount won't cure a headache, daily consumption of olive oil may prevent inflammation and confer some of the benefits of long-term ibuprofen use-without the increased risk of intestinal bleeding and damage to the kidneys that long-term use of non-steroidal drugs like ibuprofen also carries.

            Scientists believe this finding is significant because inflammation plays a key role in a variety of chronic diseases. "Some of the health-related effects of the Mediterranean diet may be due to the activity of oleocanthal from premium olive oils," said Beauchamp. The best way to check your olive oil for oleocanthal content? "Sip the oil neat and see how strongly it stings the back of the throat," recommends Breslin. "The greater the sting, the greater the oleocanthal content.

9- Olive Oil Phenols' Help Prevent Bone Loss

            The bone-sparing effects of olive polyphenols revealed in studies conducted by a special team at INRA (France's National Institute for Agricultural Research) are so dramatic that a new Belgian firm, BioActor, has licensed INRA's patents to use olive polyphenols for osteoporosis prevention in food, supplements and herbal medicines.

            The World Health Organisation calls osteoporosis its biggest global healthcare problem with aging populations also beset by obesity, a condition now known to greatly increase inflammation throughout the body, including in bones where it significantly contributes to osteoporosis. Today, a woman's lifetime risk of osteoporotic fracture is 30-40%, and even men face about a 13% risk. INRA researchers, inspired by epidemiological evidence that people eating a traditional Mediterranean diet were less likely to develop osteoporosis, began investigating the effects of olive oil and different compounds in olive leaves on bone metabolism.

            Their early studies revealed that two olive polyphenols, oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, greatly lessen the inflammation-mediated bone loss involved in osteoporosis. Then they published research in the British Journal of Nutrition, showing that olive-oil consumption can prevent inflammation-induced osteopenia (bone-thinning

10-Supports Gastrointestinal Health

            While most other fats are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer, olive oil is actually associated with a reduced risk of this disease.One reason for olive oil's protective effect may be its ability to reduce the amount of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HAs) formed when meats are cooked, suggests a study published in Food Chemistry Toxicology. The addition of foods containing antioxidants to recipes containing meat has previously been shown to decrease the amount of HAs produced during cooking. In this study, beef burgers were fried in both virgin and refined olive oils as well as virgin olive oil with rosemary extract and refined olive oil with rosemary extract. Burgers fried in virgin olive oil had significantly less HAs than those cooked in refined olive oil; however, the longer the oil was stored, the less its HA-reducing effect-a good reason to buy olive oil in small quantities that you will use within a month or two. Researchers theorised that adding rosemary to virgin olive oil might help prevent this drop in its protective effects.

            The incidence of colon cancer is lower in Mediterranean countries compared with those in northern Europe, a benefit believed to be due to the central role of olive oil in the Mediterranean diet. Laboratory research published in the International Journal of Cancer further supports this hypothesis, showing that phenolic compounds in virgin olive oil protect against several stages of colon cancer development.

-To investigate olive oils' protective mechanisms of action, researchers at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland extracted phenols from virgin olive oil and used them in a series of in vitro experiments modelling important stages of colon carcinogenesis.

 

 

-In one cell culture experiment, colon cells incubated with olive phenols for 24 hours were protected from hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage. The higher the level of olive oil phenols, the better the protection.

-In a second cell culture, at 48 hours, olive phenols at a concentration of 50 μg/ml or more had significantly improved the barrier function of colon epithelial cells (the cells that form the lining of the colon), suggesting that the phenols might be exert an anti-promoter effect in the carcinogenesis pathway.

 

-A third cell culture showed significant inhibition of HT115, a highly invasive human colorectal cancer cell line, at phenol concentrations of 25, 50, 75 and 100 μg/ml, indicating that olive oil phenols might also reduce the invasiveness of colon cancer cells.

11-Olive oil Effective against Helicobacter pylori

            Helicobacter pylori, a bacteria that burrows into the gastric lining causing chronic inflammation and promoting the development of peptic ulcers and gastric cancer, is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. The search has been on for other substances able to fight H.pylori with researchers increasingly turning not only to herbal extracts and essential oils used in traditional medicines, but to polyphenol-rich foods.

            Extra Virgin olive oil, one of the few edible oils that is consumed unrefined, contains a number of active phyto-nutrients. Having run experiments on food-borne pathogens that showed olive oil polyphenols have a very high level of antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogens, Concepcion Romero and her colleagues at the University Hospital of Valme, Seville, Spain, decided to in investigate olive oil's effects on H.pylori. Using conditions that simulated the human gastric environment, Dr. Romero and her team demonstrated that a significant amount of the polyphenols in the olive oil diffused from the oil into the stomach acid and remained stable for several hours, exerting strong anti-H.pylori activity, even against some strains resistant to antibiotics.

            Also importantly, only very low concentrations of the olive oil extracts were necessary. Among the polyphenols showing anti-H.pylori activity, one named Ty-EDA was so effective that only <1.5 μg/mL of this compound was needed to kill H.pylori cells in test tube experiments. To put this in practical perspective, Ty-EDA is present in most virgin olive oils in concentrations up to 240 μg/mL.

            While these results need confirmation in human studies, they are quite promising, especially given earlier Russian research involving olive oil and gastric ulcer. In this study, when patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers replaced the animal fat in their diet with olive oil, ulcer size was greatly reduced and the percentage of ulcer healing significantly increased. (Taits NS, cited in de la Lastra A, et al.,Current Pharmaceutical Design).

12-Individual concerns

Olive oil is not a commonly allergenic food and is not known to contain measurable amounts of oxalates or purines.

 

13-Olive oil Effective against Helicobacter pylori

In addition to the nutrients highlighted in our Health Benefit Section, an in-depth nutritional profile for Extra Virgin Olive oil is also available below. This profile includes information on a full array of nutrients, including carbohydrates, sugar, soluble and insoluble fibre, sodium, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and more.

	Rule
excellent	DV>=75%	OR	Density>=7.6	AND	DV>=10%
very good	DV>=50%	OR	Density>=3.4	AND	DV>=5%
good	DV>=25%	OR	Density>=1.5	AND	DV>=2.5%

 

Conclusion

            All in all, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is definitely one of the best foods available today, for both its richsome flavours and its multiple health benefits. However, simply adding olive oil to an unhealthy diet that is already soaked in saturated fats or vegetable oils will not lead to any of the benefits listed above and may actually cause more harm than good, but when extra virgin olive oil is used as a primary source of fat in a balanced healthy eating plan, the potential goodness of this oil prevails. Take a simple positive resolution and improve your quality of life with one single step.

 

 

           

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