Wealth and Health With Olive Oil

We will never get tired of repeating it: olive oil is good for our health! And it could have even greater effects, if regularly used in cooking, together with a healthy lifestyle and a good physical and mental activity. Extra-virgin olive oil, raw or heated, is the most recommended fat in a balanced diet, not only because of its aroma and flavour, but also for its other characteristics such as its acid composition with a predominance of monounsaturated fatty acids and with a perfect balance of polyunsaturated acids, its content in vitamin E, in provitamin A and in antioxidants that all have a protective effect on health. Even Americans, as scarce producers of olive oil, have recognized its high nourishing and therapeutic value. In 1997 Professor Angel Kelsen (Minnesota University) recognized the linoleic acid, contained in olive oil, as highly effective in the prophylaxis of arteriosclerosis and infarcts. In more than two decades research has shown other interesting advantages of daily use of extra virgin olive oil.

The Circulatory System
A diet rich in animal fat increases the amount of cholesterol in the blood, one of the main culprits of cardiovascular diseases. Vegetable oil, on the contrary, has a protective function.
After due consideration, we conclude that extra-virgin olive oil is more beneficial then other types of vegetable oil.
Not only because of its peculiarities, but also because extra-virgin oilve oil is the only type of oil extracted by a simple pression and squashing of the fruit, without further chemical or physical manipulation. Seed oil, on the contrary, is produced by the use of chemical solvents, like butane, propane, hexane.
More precisely: not all cholesterol is harmful. The fraction, transmitted by high-density lipoproteins (HDL), activates the elimination of cholesterol biliary. The consumption of extra-virgin olive oil reduces total cholesterol and favours the function of cholesterol of HDL. As a result, it is beneficial for the body and olive oil consumers live longer. The risk of coronary disease is much higher among the inhabitants of countries that do not consume extra-virgin olive oil then within Mediterranean populations with high extra-virgin oil intake.

Antioxidants
The presence of tocopherols and polyphenols gives extra-virgin olive oil an important role in antioxidant and antiradical activities that prevent the cell from aging
We shouldn’t forget that olive oil, just like all lipidic elements, has an important source of energy.

Digestibility
The characteristic of olive oil that everyone appreciates is, beyond all doubt, the particular fragrance that it gives to dishes. It increases the appetite for food and stimulates secretions in the digestive system, inducing in this way better digestibility

Digestive System
Food and delicacies prepared with extra-virgin olive oil have an excellent gastric and intestinal tolerance. In fact, oilve oil protects the mucous membrane and avoids the effects of hyperchlorhydria, and hence, reduces the risk of peptic or duodenal ulcers. It has a laxative effect, more effective on an empty stomach and it helps cure chronical constipation. It stimulates the gal bladder and inhibits gall secretion. Furthermore, it defends the body against the formation of gallstones, thanks to the activation of gall flow and to the increase of the high-density lipoproteins (HDL). The incidence of gall lithiasis is lower in the regions with a high extra-virgin olive oil intake.

Delicate Phases of Life
Extra-virgin olive oil has a balanced composition of polyunsatured fatty acids just like mother’s milk. It is a good source of fatty acids that our body is not able to sinthesize. Therefore, it is very good for the nourishment of unweaned and weaned babies. It is also highly recommended for old people because of its digestibility and its supply of minerals and vitamines. Finally, it stimulates the mineralization of bones and avoids the loss of calcium.

Therapeutic Aspects of Extra-virgin Olive Oil
Olive oil has a protective effect on arteries, the stomach and the liver, thanks to its composition. In the last few years, the properties of diets rich in monounsaturated (oleic) acid have been recognized. These types of acids have effects on diabetics, reducing the blood glucose levels, and contributing to drop the blood pressure, both dystolic (maximum) and systolic (minimum), decreasing the production of gastric acid in the small intestine, important for those who suffer from peptic or duodenal ulcer or dyspepsia stimulating the emptying of the bile ducts, preventing in this way the gallstone formation limiting the secretion of the pancreas (important for diseases like pancreatitis).
Extra-virgin olive oil has always been considered both a food and a medicine.
In rural communities it is still used to extract plugs from the skin, to cure  stomach aches,  to soften corns etc. Just like our grandmothers used it to give their hair brightness and vitality.

Today medicine is seriously reconsidering the therapeutic properties of  olive oil.