The ancient Greeks had it right. Homer, the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey, referred to olive oil as “liquid gold.” Hippocrates, the physician known as the father of Western medicine, called it “the great healer” and prescribed it for 60 medical conditions. Dioscorides, another doctor, was one of the first to recognize that the healthiest olive oils were the fresh oils extracted from certain varieties of unripe olives – a fact recently confirmed by scientists, whose studies have also added to the long list of olive oil’s health benefits.
According to myth, in a competition to become the patron of an as-yet-unnamed city, the goddess Athena beat Poseidon when it was judged by the city’s residents that her gift to humanity, the olive tree, was more impressive than the sea god’s not-so thirst-quenching salty spring. Thus the city of Athens acquired its name and its patron goddess, along with the trees that have been prized for their tasty and nutritious fruit ever since.
In real life, according to food historian Mariana Kavroulaki, ancient Greeks “selected the olive tree because it was reliable, long-lasting, and very fertile. Olives were used as food and as fuel; the oil was a basic product in lighting, medicine, diet, and cosmetics, and the export of the oil was of great economic importance.”
“Greeks realized from very early on just how essential olive oil was to both their daily lives and their economy,” bringing them both wealth and good health. In fact, olive oil has played an integral part in the Greek diet and Greek healthcare for millennia.
It’s no coincidence that Mediterranean populations tend to live longer and suffer less from heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes than North Americans and northern Europeans. This observation has inspired great interest in the Mediterranean diet, particularly olive oil, one of its main components. Hundreds of studies have explored olive oil’s health benefits over the last six decades, ever since Ancel Keys initiated his famous Seven Countries Study in the 1950s.
Mary M. Flynn, PhD, RD, a Brown University professor, and dietician at the Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island, explains that there is a “common misperception that the health benefits of olive oil are due to the monounsaturated fat content,” which is often viewed as being healthier than saturated fat and trans fat. However, olive oil offers far more than that, according to Flynn: “Studies done in animals and in test tubes have shown that the phenols in olive oil have amazing health benefits, such as selectively killing cancer cells, decreasing inflammation as much as ibuprofen will, and inhibiting tumor growth.”
In 2012, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved the following claim: “olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress.” University of Athens professor Prokopios Magiatis explains that this “means protection of LDL cholesterol from oxidation and consequently protection from a heart attack and stroke.” The EFSA limited the health claim to certain polyphenols, including oleacein and oleocanthal, and to olive oils that contain a particular amount of them.
We need antioxidants to avoid excessive damage from oxidative stress, which has also been linked to illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Scientific studies suggest that some olive oil polyphenols, including oleacein and oleocanthal, can help us avoid this damage and help prevent these diseases.
Much of the recent research on olive oil has focused on the contribution of polyphenols, which are antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory as well as antioxidants. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the type of olive oil that tends to be the richest in polyphenols; it is unrefined, and refining destroys many of the healthy compounds. (The amount and type of polyphenols vary from one EVOO to another, and virgin olive oil also contains smaller amounts of them.) Extra virgin oil is, therefore, recommended for those seeking maximum health benefits.
Oleocanthal, a polyphenol found only in some types of olive oil, has actually been compared to common medication. One day in 2005, American scientist Gary Beauchamp tasted a freshly pressed EVOO and noticed a peppery stinging sensation in his throat very similar to a feeling he had when consuming a solution of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. Further investigation led to the groundbreaking discovery that oleocanthal also has similar anti-inflammatory effects to the drug.
This is significant since many diseases, including cancer, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and arthritis, are associated with chronic inflammation. High-phenolic EVOO has been shown to reduce the blood clotting and narrowing of arteries that can lead to cardiovascular diseases, and oleocanthal has even killed cancer cells in test tubes, without harming healthy cells.
Having studied olive oil from a pharmaceutical perspective for 16 years, Prof Magiatis explains that the combination of Greek olive varieties with Greece’s unique climate and soil type can produce “olive oil with increased levels of specific phenolic ingredients like oleocanthal and oleacein – something that we don’t find often in the major varieties” of other leading olive oil producing countries.
“Moreover,” Magiatis continues, “in Greece, there are numerous olive mills, and the production per farmer is small, so most producers are able to take personal care of the oil they make. For this reason, most of the oil produced is not only an extra virgin but also high phenolic.” In other words, Greek extra virgin tends to be especially healthy – so healthy that some Greek entrepreneurs are packaging their extra-high phenolic extra virgin in medicine bottles, while others have enclosed their product in vitamin-like capsules.
Flynn believes the many health benefits of extra virgin olive oil make it “more medicine than food, and it is a delicious medicine.” She finds it “hard to emphasize just one of the many health benefits of olive oil,” but is especially impressed by its ability to improve insulin sensitivity. “This means that use of olive oil daily will make insulin work better… [leading to] lower blood levels of both insulin and glucose” and, consequently, a lower risk of heart disease and cancer of the breast, prostate, pancreas, and leukemia. This is because excess insulin and glucose make the body more susceptible to those diseases.
A recent clinical study went so far as to compare extra virgin olive oil with a statin drug, checking their ability to lower lipids in people with type 2 diabetes. While the statin was more effective, extra virgin had significant effects, without the negative side effects of the drug. Some do worry that consuming even healthy fat such as that in EVOO will lead to weight gain. However, Flynn and others have observed that olive oil can actually help us lose weight and maintain a healthy weight since the fat in it leaves us satisfied enough to stop eating and keeps us feeling full longer.
It is no coincidence that Mediterranean peoples tend to live longer and suffer less from heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke than North Americans and northern Europeans.
Flynn adds that EVOO “is an economical food that makes your meal, and especially vegetables, taste better, and it will improve your health. A meal of two tablespoons of olive oil, vegetables, and starch is much less expensive and certainly healthier than one that contains even an average amount of meat.” (Most discussions on the health benefits of olive oil call for two to three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil per day, in place of other fats.)
Some argue that it’s best to consume olive oil raw, to prevent nutrients being damaged by heat, and it may be true that this is the best way to get the full benefits of extra virgin. On the other hand, extra virgin olive oil may also be the healthiest fat to cook with, especially since preparing certain vegetables with it seems to make them even more nutritious by increasing their polyphenol content. Olive oil also improves our ability to digest and absorb plant carotenoids, which are thought to be anticarcinogenic. Meats, too, can become healthier when marinated and cooked with olive oil, thanks to its antioxidants.
Olive oil’s high smoke point is unlikely to be reached during normal home cooking. Even frying with it may be fine, and preferable to frying in other oils, since a Spanish study conducted over an 11-year period on over 40,000 adults found that regular consumption of foods fried in olive oil did not increase their risk of heart disease.
And that’s not all; rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps boost the immune system, EVOO has also been shown to help decrease the risk of high triglyceride levels, depression, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure. As Magiatis reminds us, “used in place of animal fat, [EVOO] is useful for the control of cholesterol levels. This is also an official EU-[and US Food and Drug Administration]-approved health claim.”
By Lisa Radinovsky
Real, high-quality extra virgin olive oil has well-researched anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants, and numerous heart-healthy macronutrients, which explains why there are so many olive oil benefits. Extra virgin olive oil benefits include lowering rates of inflammation, heart disease, depression, dementia, and obesity. But with all of that in mind, unfortunately, not all olive oil is created equally — not even all of the “extra virgin” kinds have the requisite olive oil benefits!
Olive oil is made from the fruit of the olive tree, which is naturally high in healthy fatty acids. There are several types of olive oil on the market today, including extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, and regular olive oil — but research shows that extra virgin olive oil benefits are more abundant than the other varieties.
Something that many people don’t realize is that it’s common for “extra virgin olive oil” purchased in most major grocery stores to be laced with GMO canola oil and herb flavors. Many store shelves are lined with fake olive oil options. A CBS report found that up to 70 percent of the extra virgin olive oil sold worldwide is watered down with other oils and enhancers, thanks to the Mafia corruption involved in the production process. (1) (Yes, you read that correctly.)
Olive oil harvesting dates back thousands of years, but today, the large, international commercial olive oil industry is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. To ancient populations, this source of satisfying healthy fat was considered a precious commodity and used for its many healing capabilities. Aside from cooking with olive oil, it was also a key component in lamps, soaps, skincare, and cosmetics.
After first making its way to North America in the mid-1500s, olive trees spread quickly to many other nations. Today, olive oil is cultivated largely in Italy, Mexico, the U.S. (mainly California), Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
Why does the specific type of oil you buy matter so much? One of the biggest dangers surrounding olive oil is that it has a low smoke point and begins to decompose at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. When olive oil is heated repeatedly or to a very high level, it can oxidize and become rancid or toxic.
There are a few main classifications for olive oil that determine how it was harvested and manufactured. You’re likely to come across these types when grocery shopping:
Always look for bottles indicating that the oil is extra virgin and ideally cold-pressed or expeller-pressed. Here are several other useful tips for recognizing and picking out the real thing:
When it comes to cooking with extra virgin olive oil, you’re better off using other stable oils or fats instead to avoid eating rancid oil. Extra virgin olive oil is ideal for drizzling onto foods or using in salad dressings or dips since this requires no cooking.
So what are the best oils for cooking? Because olive oil isn’t as stable as other sources of fats, other great oil options to cook with instead include: coconut oil (which is also best when it’s cold-pressed and virgin), organic pastured butter/ghee (which contain healthy short-chain fatty acids that have a higher heat threshold), or red palm oil (stable under high heat and great for cooking or baking). Coconut oil is my personal favorite choice since the list of coconut oil benefits is long — acting as an antimicrobial, energy booster and fat-loss tool. In addition, red palm oil does have some concerning sustainability issues, which is why it’s important to only get RSPO-certified palm oil if you choose to go that route.
Other healthy options for high-heat cooking include ghee oil and avocado oil.
How can you use extra virgin olive oil in uncooked dishes? To make a quick and versatile dressing for salads, vegetables or whole grains, combine it with several tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and a small amount of dijon mustard. You can also roast, grill, sauté or steam vegetables and then add seasoning and olive oil when they’re finished cooking. Using extra virgin olive oil in pesto, hummus spreads, raw soups and dips is another option.
The biggest barriers to enjoying this oil in a healthy way are finding the right kind, storing it properly and using it the right way in recipes. Just remember that it’s worth the splurge to buy a high-quality product considering how beneficial it can be for you. Also be sure to store it properly, use it within several months of opening and avoid cooking with it.
There is at least one report that using olive oil topically may dry out the skin. Some people use it as a carrier oil with essential oils, so if you do so, try not applying it to the same spot on consecutive days. Do not use it on children or infant skin. (18)
To get the most benefits of healthy fats from your diet overall, rotate other sources of healthy fats for olive oil, including coconut oil, ghee, organic grass-fed animal products, nuts and seeds, palm oil, and wild-caught fish.
Major olive oil benefits include the way it:
There are a couple of things to note about using extra virgin olive oil. First, make sure to get oil in a darkly colored, glass jar, labeled as an extra virgin (cold-pressed) olive oil from Italy to get the best olive oil benefits. Cheap options, plastic bottled oils and anything in a clear bottle is more likely to be stuffed with fillers like other rancid oils and may be more likely to go rancid faster and counteract the olive oil benefits.
Second, you should not use olive oil in high-heat cooking, as it creates advanced glycation end products that can speed the aging process. Instead, opt for coconut oil or other healthy options when cooking, and use olive oil in salads and after cooking for taste in order to get all the wonderful olive oil benefits.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Nutrition Facts
Olive oil is mainly made up of mostly monounsaturated fatty acids, the most important of which is called oleic acid. Oleic acid is known to be extremely heart-healthy and capable of fighting free radical damage (or oxidative stress), which has numerous health implications. This is especially true when compared to compounds found in more refined vegetable oils, trans fats or hydrogenated fats.
Diets high in extra virgin olive oil, including the famous Mediterranean diet, are associated with “a lower incidence of atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer,” according to a large review of clinical studies. (2) Most recent interest has focused on the biologically active phenolic compounds naturally present in virgin olive oils. Olive oil phenolics have positive effects on certain physiological parameters, including plasma lipoproteins, oxidative damage, inflammatory markers, platelet, and cellular function, and antimicrobial activity.
One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil contains: (3)
How much extra virgin olive oil should you aim to consume daily in order to benefit your health? While recommendations differ depending on your specific calorie needs and diet, anywhere from one to four tablespoons seems to be ideal to gain these olive oil benefits.
Studies have found that high monounsaturated fat diets lower LDL cholesterol, raise HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides better than lower-fat, higher-carb diets do. (4) Thanks to powerful antioxidants known as polyphenols, extra virgin oil is considered an anti-inflammatory food and cardiovascular protector. When someone’s immune system essentially begins to fight her own body as a result of a poor diet, stress or other factors, inflammatory responses are triggered that lead to dangerous, disease-causing inflammation.
The purpose of inflammation is to protect us against illnesses and repair the body when needed, but chronic inflammation is extremely harmful to arterial health and linked to heart disease, autoimmune diseases and more. Extra virgin olive oil helps reverse inflammatory along with age- and disease-related changes to the heart and blood vessels, according to a 2009 study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. Research shows olive oil is beneficial for lowering high blood pressure because it makes nitric oxide more bioavailable, which keeps arteries dilated and clear. (5)
The protective effects of a Mediterranean-style diet rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from olive oil have been shown in many studies, with some finding that this type of higher-fat diet is capable of decreasing the risk of cardiac death by 30 percent and sudden cardiac death by 45 percent! (6)
According to a 2004 study published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, olives and olive oil contain antioxidants in abundance. (7) They are some of the best high antioxidant foods. Olives (especially those that have not been subjected to high-heat processes) contain nucleosides, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and phenyl propionic acids. Both olives and olive oil contain substantial amounts of other compounds deemed to be anticancer agents (e.g., squalene and terpenoids) as well as the peroxidation-resistant lipid oleic acid.
Researchers feel that it’s probable that high olive and olive oil consumption in southern Europe represents an important contribution to the beneficial effects of cancer prevention and health in the Mediterranean diet.
Eating plenty of healthy fats is a key element in controlling excess insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, makes us gain weight, and keeps the weight packed on despite us cutting calories and exercising more. Fats are satiating and help reduce hunger, cravings, and overeating. This is one reason why numerous studies have found that diets low in fat don’t result in weight loss or weight maintenance as easily or often as balanced, higher-fat diets do.
After reviewing five trials including a total of 447 individuals, researchers from University Hospital Basel in Switzerland found that individuals assigned to higher-fat, low-carbohydrate diets lost more weight than individuals randomized to low-fat diets. There were no differences in blood pressure levels between the two groups, but triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol values changed more favorably in individuals assigned to the diets higher in fat. (8)
Because diets with ample amounts of healthy fats are more satisfying, people are much more likely to be able to stick with them. A 2002 study published in the Women’s Health Journal, for example, found that an olive oil-enriched diet brought about greater weight loss than a lower-fat diet in an eight-week comparison. Following the eight weeks, the participants also overwhelmingly chose the olive oil-enriched diet for at least six months of the follow-up period. (9)
The brain is largely made up of fatty acids, and we require a moderately high level on a daily basis to perform tasks, regulate our moods and think clearly. (10) Like other sources of healthy fats, olive oil is considered a brain food that improves focus and memory.
Olive oil may help fight age-related cognitive decline, as it’s part of the Mediterranean diet and offers monounsaturated fatty acids associated with sustained brain health. (11)
Healthy fats, including olive oil, have hormone-balancing, anti-inflammatory effects that can prevent neurotransmitter dysfunction. Low-fat diets are often linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety. Mood or cognitive disorders can occur when the brain doesn’t get a sufficient amount of “happy hormones” like serotonin or dopamine, important chemical messengers that are necessary for mood regulation, getting good sleep and thought-processing.
One 2011 study conducted by the University of Las Palmas in Spain found that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat intake had an inverse relationship with depression risk. At the same time, trans-fat intake and depression risk had a linear relationship, showing that higher trans-fat consumption and lower PUFA and MUFA could up the chances of battling mood disorders and treating depression. (12)
An anti-aging diet should have plenty of healthy fats. Extra virgin olive oil is a great example. It contains a type of antioxidant called secoiridoids, which help activate gene signatures contributing to anti-aging and a reduction of cellular stress.
Secoiridoids in olive oil may also suppress gene expression related to the Warburg effect, a process related to the formation of cancer, and helps to prevent “age-related changes” in skin cells. (13)
Just remember that olive oil shouldn’t be cooked at high heat, or it could have the opposite effect. Cooking with olive oil produces advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which contribute to “the multisystem functional decline that occurs with aging.” (14, 15)
Fatty acids influence glucose metabolism by altering cell membrane function, enzyme activity, insulin signaling, and gene expression. Evidence suggests that consuming polyunsaturated and/or monounsaturated fats (the kind found in olive oil) has beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity and is likely to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes. (16)
While carbohydrates elevate blood sugar by providing glucose, fats help stabilize blood sugar levels and regulate insulin. Even when you eat something high in sugar or carbs, adding extra virgin olive oil to the meal can help slow down the impact on your bloodstream. Consuming olive oil is also a great way to feel more satisfied after meals, which can help prevent sugar cravings and overeating that can lead to diabetes complications.
A case-control study conducted in Italy in 1995 discovered that over 2,564 cases of breast cancer, higher consumption of olive oil was correlated with a lower risk of developing the disease. (17) While there aren’t clear reasons for this, there is often an assumed interaction between healthy fats and hormone function, which could be one possible explanation.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Recipes
Olive oil shouldn’t be used for cooking, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be part of delicious meals. Here are some of my favorite extra virgin olive oil recipes:
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