The Health Benefits of Olive Oil
Have you ever stopped to think for a moment, to realize that the foods you are digesting each day - could, actually be slowly but surely leading you down a pathway to illness, disease, or even an early death?
At this point, I will steer clear of my gripe about the harm and internal damage, that the hidden sugars, salt and cancer causing emulsifiers within processed foods are causing major harm to your internal gut or colon. As this is a key trigger for people to die far too early from diseases.
Causation, being often related to the onset of 'Oxidative stress' and 'Inflammation'. But, what is oxidative stress, I hear you ask? Plus, why should we also worry about inflammation in the body?
Let me briefly explain in laymen terms.
The toxins (e.g. salt, harmful sugars, and emulsifiers which are basically cleaning agents, or soap for a better word) from within your daily diet of processed foods (e.g. which I call dead food, as the natural vital vitamins and enzymes are destroyed once the temperature reaches 23 degrees during the cooking process) are slowly killing you in some way or another.
Why? Because, these food and beverage toxins, in time will slowly but surely start to damage your intestinal wall (e.g think of the skin of a sausage or membrane of a haggis being pierced with a fork). In other words, holes in your gut membrane appear; and as a consequence, these harmful food toxins start to leak through and enter your bloodstream.
So where does the Oxidative stress' come in?
This is essentially an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants. So, when this imbalance or gut leakage occurs, it can cause disruptions and many changes to the pathos-physiological conditions within your body. But How?
Through, the 'harmful mutation of your body's genes and cells'. Which, then in turn have the potential to lead onto to serious diseases (e.g. Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancers) to other underlying illnesses (e.g. chronic fatigue). Then add to this equation, the health risks associated with 'inflammation' and we can add heart failure, heart attack and other inflammatory diseases (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis).
While, I am on the subject - in relation to your body's genes, there is one in particular worth noting, and this is the Paraoxonase (PONI) gene. Which, has also become under closer scrutiny by the scientists and geneticists. Why? Because, this gene plays a vital role in preventing disease and also your harm to cardio-vascular system.
Whats the Research saying about Olive Oil?
Because, 'Olive Oil' is one of the best ways to keep your body free from the ravages of your body's 'silent killers' and can become your savior to better health. Its also very beneficial - in that, it not only prevents harmful fats from building up in your body and becoming rancid or oxidized, it also protects your intestines and gut membranes, by removing toxic food wastes quickly from your digestive system.
Additionally, it prevents the build up of visceral fat (e.g. harmful tummy fat). Which, if not remedial, cannot only trigger atherosclerosis (e.g hardening of the arteries).
Research is showing that it also plays a big role in 'reducing inflammation' and 'reverses oxidative stress', due to the compounds present in the olives oil (e.g. carotenoids, polyphenols and tocopherols). Needless to say, it's like putting oil in you car; as, it lubricates your body's joints (e.g. a blessing for arthritis sufferers) and it lubricates the mind too, even to the point of slowing the aging process down as well.
Hence, the trick is to activate your body to produce more 'PONI' as it not only helps to reduce the build-up of oxidized fats, it also strengthens your HDL cholesterol (e.g. the good cholesterol) and bolsters the build-up of LDL cholesterol (e.g the bad cholesterol). Thus, it keeps your heart healthy.
The Historical Thread of this Liquid Gold
Even famous painters, such as Renoir and Van Gogh painted olive trees and in his writings Van Gogh described the olive tree as;
"The rustle of an olive grove has something very secret in it, and immensely old, it is too beautiful for us to dare to paint it or be able to imagine it"
Placing aside - the fact, that the olive tree is grown on more land than
any other fruit tree on this planet and scientists have recorded
evidence from clay tablet writings dating back 4,400 years. It has also
been well noted as a tool for 'healing' within the three major
monotheistic religious texts know to mankind (e,g the Holy Bible, Torah,
and Koran).
Wild Olive trees have been identified as far back as
200,000 years and even the progression into domesticate the olive tree,
has been traced back as far as 20,000 years ago. Today, the Greeks
consume the most olive oil per capita than any other population, at
about 26 liters per person annually.
From a Biblical standpoint, there are more than 180 references to olives and olive oil in the Bible.
For example, Psalm 28 pledges prosperity to believers, whereby the verse states "Your children will be like olive shoots around the table". Its also mentioned several times as the oil used for lighting. In the book of Mark 6:13 it states; "And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them".
Even the word 'Christ' is derived from the Greek word 'Chrism'- meaning to anoint with oil, and in Hebrew; the word messiah means the 'anointed one' and it is often described as the 'Oil of Life'.
Health Benefits of Olive Oil
Nutritional factors play a major role in cancer initiation and development. And, many observational studies reveal that olive oil consumption was associated with lower odds of cancer development, and in particular for breast and digestive system cancer types.
There was a reason why 'Olive Oil' was labelled 'Liquid Gold'.
In Sardinia, for instance; olive oil is a major component of their diet and researchers have targeted this area, due to its abundance of people living up to and over the age of 100.
Its no coincidence or stroke of luck, that French women Jeanne Calment lived onto 122 years of age and credited her longevity to a diet high in olive oil. Even Arab Israeli, Mariam Amash was noted as drinking an entire glass of olive oil everyday and was said to have lived until she was 124 years of age.
Further scholar studies highlight further benefits.
For example, in a study conducted in 2011, that included 19 global observational studies involving 36,000 participants. It was found that high consumption of olive oil reduces the risk of all types of cancer (e.g. breast, prostate and colon cancer). Bearing in mind, that most cancers will start their journey from the colon and then spread through the body, via the lymph nodes (e.g. remember my comment about the leaky gut membrane caused by toxic processed food?)
Scientific report publications, have also identified that olive oil not only has anti-bacterial properties, but it also contains Oleic acid (e.g the main fat in olive oil) and also Squalene (e.g. a sterol precursor). Both of which, affects the cholesterol and fatty acid levels within the body, and thus reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Then, lets not ignore the 6,500 high level research articles (e.g. and still growing) published annually in PubMed, the USA National Library of Medicine database. Which, highlights the following health benefits;
- Lowers the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, and skin cancer;
- Lowers the risk of cell damage and proliferation, stroke, or dementia; and reduces the effects of rheumatoid arthritis and it triggers weight loss; and it
- Acts as an anti-inflammatory to reduce blood pressure, blood clotting and its natural anti-oxidants boost your immune system to fight against illnesses.
Its no coincidence either, that the cases of Alzheimer and Dementia disease are fewer; because, olive oil also protects the brain and enhances global cognition functions and verbal memory. Mainly attributed to the high levels of Oleic acid in the oil.
How can Olive Oil be consumed?
The most purest' olive oil is the 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil', which mostly originates from Spain and has not been altered by the processing procedure. Therefore, spend that little extra to find and buy it and use it consistently everyday with the foods you digest.
You could also buy 'capsule tablets' from a high grade health store that contain the oil and there are also other oils presented in this easy to digest format (e.g. krill oil, cod liver oil etc. ) But, the trick here is to put reminders around your house; because, forgetting to take them isn't uncommon.
According to US Nutritionist Associate Professor in clinical medicine Dr. Mary Flynn; whom, I might add has also been studying the effects and benefits of Olive Oil since the 1990's.
"You should en-devour to consume about 3 tablespoons (e.g. 50 ml) of high grade quality extra virgin olive oil a day".
Refs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress
Owen, R.W. et. al. (2000). 'Olive-oil consumption and health: the possible role of antioxidants'. Lancet Oncology; vol.1:pp.107–112.
Owen, R.W., et.al. (2004). 'Olives and olive oil in cancer prevention'. European Journal of Cancer Prevention; Vol.13,pp.319–326.
Psaltopoulou,T., et.al. (2011). 'Olive oil intake is inversely related to cancer prevalence: a systematic review and a meta-analysis of 13800 patients and 23340 controls in 19 observational studies'. Lipids Health Dis. Vol. 10, p.127.
Graham, L. '3 tablespoons of olive oil can save your life and make you slimmer'. Article cited online at https://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/diet/diets/3-tablespoons-of-olive-oil-can-save-your-life-and-make-you-slimmer/news-story/
