Olive oil, long considered the nutritional centerpiece of the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, offers a rich array of both scientifically confirmed and reputed medicinal properties. Under standards developed by the International Olive Council, oil that is labeled "virgin" and "cold-pressed" represents a product that has been "obtained solely by mechanical or physical means under thermal conditions that do not lead to alterations in the oil." Minimal processing produces oil with most natural medicinal properties intact.
A Heart-Healthy Fat
The human body requires dietary fat to ensure optimal health. Fats not only provide energy, but they also contain essential fatty acids that play a key role in brain development, blood clotting and controlling inflammation. However, not all fats are created equal. Foods high in saturated fats and trans fatty acids are widely implicated as causative factors in cardiovascular disease. Far healthier are monounsaturated fats, of which olive oil is a stellar example.
Olive oil also appears to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein, the so-called bad cholesterol, while slightly elevating blood levels of high-density protein, or good cholesterol, according to "Cholesterol Cures," published by Rodale Health Books. Adding further to olive oil's reputation as a heart-healthy fat is the finding that polyphenols in olive oil exert strong antioxidant properties that help to keep the linings of blood vessels healthy.
Anti-Cancer Properties
While the Mediterranean diet, of which olive oil is a central component, is widely touted as heart-healthy, its anti-cancer properties get far less attention. Residents of the Mediterranean Basin report a much lower incidence of cancer than is found elsewhere in the world. To determine what, if any, role olive oil might play in reducing cancer, Spanish researchers conducted an animal study in which the incidence of colon cancer was monitored in rats getting different types of fatty acids in their diet. Those given the fatty acids found in olive oil had a far lower incidence of colon cancer than animals receiving other fats. In findings published in a 2000 issue of Gut, researchers conclude that olive oil appears to have chemopreventive activity against colon carcinogenesis.
Reduces Blood Sugar Levels
Choosing the right dietary fats can be critical for patients with diabetes, according to Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young, authors of "The PH Miracle for Diabetes." They cite a study in which nutritional researchers monitored 42 patients with type 2 diabetes over a period of six months. In their findings, published in a 1994 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers concluded that a diet rich in olive oil reduced blood levels of glucose, insulin and triglycerides, compared with a diet that was low in fat but high in carbohydrates. The Youngs also point out that the American Diabetes Association recommends a diet rich in monounsaturated fats to better control diabetes through reduced insulin resistance and improved glucose tolerance.
References
- International Olive Council (IOC) and California Trade Standards for Olive Oil
- "Cholesterol Cures, Revised"; Editors of Rodale Health Books; 2007
- "Gut"; Effect of Olive Oil and Early and Late Events of Colon Carcinogenesis in Rats: Modulation of Arachidonic Acid Metabolism and Local Prostaglandin E2 Synthesis; R. Bartoli et al.; 2000
- "The PH Miracle for Diabetes"; Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young; 2004
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