The main health benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

We are always amazed by the incredible health benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and the science behind why and how it is such a superfood. We recently interviewed Dr Simon Poole to understand more, how the science is developing and how to ensure you use it in the right way to get the greatest benefit.  But we are often asked to summarise what makes EVOO so good for you, and so where better to turn than the Olive Wellness Institute, who have published a great article on it here.

We summarise the main points:

1. EVOO is a great source of healthy fats and antioxidants
2. EVOO can help you reduce the risk of heart disease
3. EVOO can protect you against a stroke
4. EVOO can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
5. EVOO is the best cooking oil
6. EVOO makes your vegetables more nutritious
7. EVOO might make your bones stronger
8. EVOO might protect you against certain cancers
9. EVOO is good for your brain health
10. EVOO can contribute to your longevity

If you read our blog regularly you will already know that using EVOO every day helps you improve both mental and physical health. Just make sure the oil is as fresh as possibile since the health benefits are more prominent when it has been freshly milled.

JANUARY RESET

The January Reset is something many of us take advantage of.  It’s a moment to re-group somehow, look at our lives from a fresh perspective, set some new goals, re-balance our approach and keep ourselves in check.  Goodness knows, we all need that.

Following the indulgent month of December, it’s a good opportunity to reset our diet. Sitting over here in rural Italy, where life tends to move at a slower pace, it’s easy to look cynically at the myriad dietary fads that come and go – nutrition for us is centred around the seasons, even in large supermarkets you still can’t get out of season ingredients here.  And this is one of the key pillars of the Mediterranean diet – if you eat a tomato in August, it will be better for you (as well as having a superior flavour) than one eaten in the winter. This is of course also environmentally ethical as you’re consuming fewer food miles and therefore it has even greater appeal.

Something that we haven’t previously reset as a family however is our consumption of meat.  We don’t by any means eat meat every day but we are partial to properly reared and sourced meat.  This January, we have decided to cut meat out of our diet totally, in part just to see if we can and to see how we respond, but also as increasing environmental evidence is presented about the risks of consuming meat we feel we will all be urged to look at this balance in our lives for the future.

The great thing about this is that we’ve had to make more effort with vegetables, grains, pulses and dairy (we’ve tried not to just replace meat with fish).  We’ve spent a good deal of time with our noses in the cookery books and have already discovered some new family favourites that will become a part of our regular repertoire.   You can follow me on Instagram to hear more about what’s on our table.

Abstinence used to be reserved for lent in our culture, but in our secular era this now seems to have crept forwards to January.  If we manage to make it to the end of the month, there’s a chance we will repeat the exercise throughout the year at various points when we feel in need of a reset.

Oleocanthal

A phenomenal, naturally occurring compound in Extra Virgin Olive Oil that is an amazing anti-inflammatory.

I’m often asked why top quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil can prickle the back of your throat. It’s because of a naturally occurring compound called Oleocanthal. EVOO is the only cooking oil containing Oleocanthal and it has been shown to act as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) agent. Because of this, consumption of oleocanthal in your diet has been shown to reduce general inflammation in the body. That’s good news for all of us.

The quantity suggested in order to see the benefits is around 3-4 tablespoons per day (equivalent to a low dose of ibuprofen). This is perhaps more EVOO than you would think of consuming – you may need to work it in to a few more dishes… put it on your toast in the morning with avocado or tomato, put it over your soup or salad at lunch and integrate it where ever possible in to your dinner. But the benefits of taking something totally natural are of course huge.

Oleocanthal has also been shown to benefit arthritic pain and degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) as well as slowing its onset. It is also a compound of interest in cancer research due to its ability to inhibit the initiation of metastases of several cancer types. It’s still early stages from everything I’ve read but I’m sure anyone who has lived the horror of cancer would welcome news of anything that might help.

For a more in depth understanding, this article is pretty good: https://olivewellnessinstitute.org/article/oleocanthal-a-phenolic-compound-with-anti-inflammatory-action/

The concentration of oleocanthal varies from one Extra Virgin Olive Oil to another.  The highest values occur in oil where the olives are harvested early.  Certain cultivars also have higher concentrations naturally.  Coratina, Nocellara del Belice and Moraiolo all have particularly high values.

We’ve put together a box of oils with high polyphenol values for anyone interested in the health benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

https://www.frantoi.org/portfolio_page/to-your-good-health-box/

THE MAJOR BENEFITS OF OLIVE OIL VS COCONUT OIL

You may have seen some coverage in the media about the adverse properties of Coconut oil, which is pretty hard to digest if you’ve been using it relatively abundantly in your lives.   So, we’ve summarised the main reasons to switch it out of your life in favour of Olive oil (and we don’t even mention the flavour)

1. Extra virgin olive oil out performs coconut oil in terms of lowering cholesterol and risk of heart disease.  It has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Read more about this here
2. EVOO stabilises blood clotting, blood sugar and insulin levels.  Read more how it can benefit those with type 1 diabetes here.
3. EVOO is based predominantly on heart healthy monosaturated fat vs almost 90% saturated fat in coconut oil.
4. The best EVOO contains 160 times more vitamin E and 120 times more vitamin K than coconut oil. Vitamin E is a valuable antioxidant that helps protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals (the compounds that form when we convert food in to energy).  It is great for your skin, digestion, vision, reproduction and brain.Vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting, bone metabolism and regulating blood calcium levels.  It’s such a pleasure to be able to raise your intake of these two important vitamins via food rather than with a tablet.
5. EVOO has a more complex set of polyphenols (36 different types) vs 6 in coconut oil but also a far higher concentration.  Read more about polyphenols
6. Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a smoke point of 207°C vs 176°C for coconut oil.  This just means if you cook on a gas stove in particular, you can worry less about burning your ingredients.  Read more about the smoke points of various oils

Olive Oil, an ancient medicine