A True Superfood: Olive Oil
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A True Superfood: Olive Oil
All About Food Medicine – Healthy foods are the natural medicines that will prevent common health problems the natural way – http://www.thefoodmedicine.com
Olive oil is a mainstay in cultures around the Mediterranean Ocean. At times, this oil and the fruit from which it comes from has been used as currency, a way to bathe without water and for quite a long time has been a major contributor to the diet of the cultures that surround the Mediterranean. For this region, olive oil is an integral part of almost every meal and in some areas forty percent of the average person’s daily caloric intake is from olive oil.
With all that fat in the diet, certainly these people are asking for heart problems as well as a host of other problems, right? The answer, however, couldn’t be farther from the truth. The people who live around the Mediterranean are some of the healthiest people around and, on average, have longer life expectancies than most of the other cultures around the world.
What can Olive Oil Do?
Olive oil has been shown to help with many different facets of health. First of all, olive oil has been used in traditional medicine for hundreds of years. To this day, natural healing doctors use olive oil preparations as part of treatment for many ailments. For example, natural medicine calls for a tonic of olive oil and lemon juice to help treat gallstones. The oil itself is very well tolerated by the stomach. Most people can easily handle the recommended amounts of olive oil and likely couldn’t handle similar quantities of any other oil. The olive oil encourages the production of bile and hormones in the pancreas far better than any drug. This combination helps break up the gallstones naturally.
On top of this, there are many studies into olive oil and its effects on the body because of the Mediterranean diet showing such promise in terms of healthy living. The research shows that because olive oil is full of monounsaturated fat that olive oil helps control bad cholesterol levels and help raise the good cholesterol levels. This helps prevent cholesterol plaque from adhering to cellular walls and helps prevent both heart disease and high blood pressure. The numbers from countries along the Mediterranean Ocean of cases of heart disease are the proof: There is one case of heart disease per capita to twenty seven cases in the United States.
There have been studies showing that olive oil helps prevent a number of different types of cancer. Of these, the most studied is colon cancer. The testing in rats has shown a dramatic decrease from what would be the equivalent of two tablespoons a day in humans.
What makes Olive Oil Work?
As mentioned, monounsaturated fats is one of the main causes for the health effects of olive oil. However, there are other components that contribute to the health effects which olive oil appears to contribute to. Extra Virgin olive oil is especially high in antioxidants and phenols. Both of which contribute to heart health as well as overall health. Both of these chemicals help bind to free radicals which otherwise could get into cells and do damage to the DNA and cell walls. Free radical damage has been associated with cancer as well as being one of the causes of aging.
As an added bonus, olive oil is very high in the much researched Omega-3 fatty acids. Most people outside of the Mediterranean has an imbalance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6′s contribute to plaque and other issues while Omega-3′s have been shown to very helpful for overall health and research is showing that Omega-3′s help prevent heart disease by helping keep arterial walls pliable and flexible. This helps prevent the walls from developing cracks which then get sealed with clots; clots which can grow and lead to blockage or break off and cause an embolism or stroke. By helping maintain a positive balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids, olive oil helps counteract any potential damage which could be done by other foods consumed with the olive oil.
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