Chanukah always sets us to thinking about olive oil, because
of the signature miracle. According to modern research, olive
oil is very good for eating as well as for lighting
candles.
Olive oil is said to reduce the risk of heart disease, when
part of a healthy diet. Even people that consume a high-fat
diet yet include olive oil have lower rates of heart
disease.
Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat (one of the good fats
that actually helps you to lose weight) so if you replace a
high-fat diet with olive oil as a component, you reduce your
intake of saturated fats and thus lower the LDL cholesterol
levels in your body. (LDL is the bad cholesterol and HDL is
good.) The beneficial high-density proteins are left alone,
and thus the dangerous, artery-clogging fat does not continue
to accumulate.
In addition to the benefits of the monounsaturated fats in
olive oil, there are several other compounds that can benefit
your health. These can stop damage in your arteries before it
starts. Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants found in olive
oil. These antioxidants disable the free radical oxygen
molecules produced naturally by your body. This keeps the
free radicals from attacking the low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol (LDL) which lowers the chances that they will
stick to artery walls, clogging them and causing heart
disease. The conclusion? Adding olive oil to your diet can
help to keep your arteries clear.
In addition to being beneficial to your heart, researchers at
the Harvard School of Public Health and the Athens School of
Public Health studied the effects of olive oil on more than
2,300 women. They discovered that women who consumed olive
oil more than once a day had a 25 percent lower risk of
breast cancer, and in fact the female population of Greece is
much less likely to die from breast cancer than women in the
United States. They believe the high concentration of vitamin
E, which has been proven to slow or stop cell damage, found
in olive oil, as well as the polyphenols, contribute to this
benefit.
One form of a polyphenol -- resveratrol -- is found in red
wine and is known to improve cardiovascular health and may
even fight some forms of cancer.
There are three types of olive oil:
1. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil -- is derived from the first press
of the ripe olive. It is often used for food flavoring rather
than for cooking purposes. It contains the highest density of
polyphenols.
2. Pure Olive Oil -- can be used to cook foods. It contains
higher levels of monounsaturated fats and lower levels of
polyphenols.
3. Light Olive Oil -- maintains a less distinctive taste than
the aforementioned types and is used for cooking at high
heats.
The British medical journal Gut says work by
scientists at University Hospital Germans Trias Pujol in
Barcelona found that laboratory rats fed a cancer-inducing
agent developed fewer tumors when olive oil was included in
their diet. The active anti-cancer ingredient appears to be
the flavenoids in the oil.
Flavenoids are antioxidants abundant in tea, wine, apples and
onions, all of which have been found to provide health
benefits of their own. In the Barcelona research, olive oil
seemed to work better than safflower and fish oil in the
rats' diet.
Professor Miguel Gassull, who led the research, says flatly,
the research showed olive oil significantly inhibited the
development of cancer of the colon. The test animals fed on
the oil were found to have lower levels of arachidonate, a
chemical known to promote the growth of cancer cells.
Unlike other oils, olive oil should be kept cool, either in
the refrigerator or other dark cool spot. This will ensure
that your olive oil maintains its protective qualities, as
well as its great taste.
