This is part of our ongoing The Best Kept Secrets to Wholesome Aging spotlight. Each day, we will be posting some of the fantastic information that’s packed into our book, The Best Kept Secrets to Wholesome Aging.
For more information on this subject or any other details on nutrition, supplements, diet plan, vitamins and exercise, please go to Purity Products.
Today’s topic: The Mediterranean Diet – Is It The Oil?
A mainstay of the Mediterranean dietary way of life is the copious use and consumption of high-quality additional virgin cold-pressed olive oil. Is this important? The results of a recently-published randomized controlled clinical trial has proven that the high phytonutrient content of additional virgin olive oil is “heart wholesome,” producing increased serum HDL-cholesterol concentrations and decreased serum triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol and oxidized LDL cholesterol concentrations. In addition, a laboratory study has proven that two of the polyphenol phytonutrients in olive oil, hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein, impair the ability of damaged blood vessel lining cells to trick white blood cells into helping them form an arterial plaque.
These findings help explain the observation that the routine, life-long consumption of several tablespoons of high-quality olive oil daily (as salad dressing, cooking oil, salsa or olives) can reduce the chances of ever having a heart attack by 75% or more.
For more information on this subject or any other details on nutrition, supplements, diet plan, vitamins and exercise, please go to Purity Products.
Of course, the health benefits of olive oil extend far beyond the heart and cardiovascular system. For instance a recently published review article demonstrated that breast cancer and colon cancer in particular are less likely to occur in adults who habitually practice a Mediterranean dietary way of life.2 These reviewers explained the mechanisms via which oleic acid, the major monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) in olive oil, suppressed several of the very initial biochemical events that convert a normal breast or colon cell into a cancerous cell – a mechanism that could help oncologists understand much better the value of olive oil both to their patients and as a “cancer preventive” choice for the general population.
