What You Need to Know about Olive Oil: One of the Healthiest Fats in the World

For years, a low-fat diet has been advised as a way to improve health and reduce the risk of a multitude of diseases. But when you reduce your fat intake too drastically, you can end up with the very health issues you were trying to prevent. In all likelihood, you cut back on both good and bad fats. Adding olive oil to your grocery list adds a good fat to your diet. A healthy amount of fats in our diet is vital for overall health. Did you know that your brain is 60-percent fat? Fatty acids help our bodies function down to the cellular level. The World Health Organization recommends that fats make up 20-35 percent of our total calories per day. But you don’t want to eat just any fat — you need quality fats. One of the healthiest sources of fat is olive oil. What is olive oil? Olive oil is an omega-9 fatty acid high in healthy, monounsaturated fat, particularly in oleic acid. Oleic acid has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Intake of oleic acid has been proven to lower blood levels of C-Reactive Protein, an inflammatory marker showing the level of inflammation within the body. The monounsaturated fats lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ― bad cholesterol levels in the blood — and raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ― or good cholesterol levels. It also contains oleocanthal, a natural anti-inflammatory compound. It has a potency similar to ibuprofen and works in a similar way. Both are strong anti-inflammatories and pain relievers. The amount of oleocanthal you ingest from olive oil is much less than the corresponding dosage you’d get from ibuprofen, but long-term consumption is still believed to reduce your risk of many diseases. A diet rich in this oil delivers health benefits comparable to non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory medications. You’d […]

Click here to view full article