Extra Virgin Keeps You Healthy

One of the main ingredients used in the Mediterranean Diet is Extra Virgin Olive oil. I got the cookbook as a ‘present’, while recovering from open heart surgery.

I use extra virgin olive oil as part of a healthy, well-balanced diet, with fruits, vegetables and wholegrain breads and cereals. My favorite dish is Chicken Fried Rice, and it has a great taste too.

It is well documented that people living in Mediterranean regions have reduced risk for certain chronic diseases and longer life expectancy when compared with other groups of people in the world. This is in spite of their high dietary fat intake, which usually makes up more than 30% of total energy intake.

Some of the other claims of the Mediterranean Diet are that it helps with mental health, blood sugar health and weight management, keeps DNA healthy, protects cells from damage, and helps keep blood pressure in normal range.

NOW Foods’ Extra Virgin Olive Oil is cholesterol-free and has been a mainstay worldwide since Biblical days. It has less than 1% oleic acid as well as many other oil components.

The FDA's website says: Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil. To achieve this possible benefit, olive oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this Olive Oil contains 11.5 grams of olive oil.

Extra virgin oil is the top grade of olive oil. It is made from the first ‘pressing’ of good-quality olives. The oil is removed (extracted) by a traditional cold-pressing method, where no chemicals and only a small amount of heat are applied.Research has come up with a number of other benefits from using olive oil. It may help reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases such as: cardiovascular disease and cancer including breast, colon, lung, ovarian and skin cancers. Other studies have shown that olive oil may also help reduce or manage blood pressure, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis and immune function. It may also increase your life expectancy.

Now the latest study to be published supports keeping DNA healthy. It is thought that olive oil may also help keep LDL cholesterol healthy. Oxidation of LDL is thought to be one of the precursors to the onset of heart disease which is the #2 killer of Americans and costs our healthcare system almost $450 billion per year. But now a new study has found that it is indeed polyphenols in olive oil that help keep red blood cells healthy.

In the study, researchers obtained blood samples from healthy, non-smoker volunteers and they then treated the blood samples with either olive oil antioxidants or placebo. Then they exposed the blood samples to a chemical compound called AAPH, known to cause oxidative damage.

The researchers found all of the olive oil antioxidants with the exception of EA were able to significantly reduce cell damage from AAPH. Specifically, 20 micromoles of hydroxytyrosol and EDA protected 50% and 65% of the red blood cells, respectively. Even more important, the protective effects against cell damage increased as dosage increased, with the 80 micromoles of hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, and EDA protecting 95%, 93%, and 95% of the red blood cells, respectively. But it was EDA that had the most consistently protective effects starting at 20 micromoles and was the most effective protector of red blood cells.

This was the first time it was demonstrated that 3,4-DHPEA-EDA, one of the most important olive oil polyphenols, may play a noteworthy protective role against [cell damage] in human cells. So replace those saturated fats with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.