Benefits of olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is the oil par excellence, the healthiest oil and the one with the best properties for our health. Furthermore, knowing the benefits of extra virgin olive oil will encourage you to consume it more and to take advantage of them. Therefore, we encourage you to discover more about this Spanish product and to consume it. In this way we will help the farmers who produce it. We will also strengthen the health of our own body.

Summary: Extra virgin olive oil is a functional product that provides us with a large number of health benefits. Benefits that we can enhance by taking it on an empty stomach. Likewise, in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid you will find the best olive oils in Spain: Baena, Sierra Magina, Sierra de Cazorla, Montes de Toledo, Priego de Córdoba, El Empiedro, .

Related articles: Where to buy extra virgin olive oil?

1. Nutritional properties of extra virgin olive oil

Unlike other vegetable oils and fats, extra virgin olive oil is the natural juice of the olive. It is extracted by cold mechanical procedures from healthy olives collected on the fly and does not contain any chemical solvent, giving an oil with an irreproachable flavour and smell. This is the great difference that makes extra virgin olive oil so special.

Other oils such as sunflower, corn, palm, are extracted by chemical means and at high temperatures, processes that are leaving along the way many beneficial properties, vitamins and other minor components that are so beneficial. Eating sunflower seeds is not the same as eating sunflower oil.

An extra virgin olive oil has neither been manipulated, nor subjected to rectifications, nor refined, nor headers. Rectification and refining are chemical and physical treatments to remove bad tastes and smells. With this process all the minor components of the oil disappear, that are so beneficial for our organism and trans acids are produced, responsible for coronary problems and other sanitary problems of the modern society. The heading consists of mixing a bad oil with a good one, around 80/20, to give back the flavor and aroma.

Photo 1: Olive tree seedlings in Jaén

a) Most important properties

Among the most important benefits of olive oil, we mention the following:

1. It has high antioxidant power and high vitamin content (A, D, E and K), exercising an effective protection against peroxides and free radicals that age our body and increase the chances of cancer.
2. It corrects cholesterol levels favourably, containing the appropriate proportion of fatty acids (Monounsaturated/polyunsaturated/saturated). A regular consumption in the diet of extra virgin olive oil raises the cholesterol called good (HDL) and lowers the bad (LDL).
3. Contains essential acids, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. They are fatty acids that are not synthesized by our body, and it is essential to ingest them for the proper functioning of our body.
4. Promotes bone growth in childhood, as it favors the calcification of bones and is the fat that most closely resembles that of breast milk, being the most appropriate fat to ingest.
5. It enjoys great stability and resists high temperatures without decomposing, due to its high level of monounsaturated fatty acids, which have greater resistance to oxidation and deterioration. Also, this stability is essential for the cell walls of our cells, since part of the oil we ingest will make up our cell walls.
6. Little penetration in food and high performance in frying. When we fry in comparison with other oils, the Olive Oil makes a film around the product and does not penetrate in it, giving greater yield to the oil and diminishing the calorific contribution of product. The picual variety and the cornicabra are the most appropriate for the fried ones since they enjoy greater stability.

Picture 2: Tasting case with Oro Bailen oil

2. What nutrients does olive oil contain?

Extra virgin olive oil is a vegetable fat mostly formed by monounsaturated fatty acids. Here is the nutritional table of extra virgin olive oil

The composition of the type of fats (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) will depend on the variety of the olive. Varieties such as picual and cornicabra will have higher percentages of monounsaturated fatty acids. Olive oils of other varieties such as arbequina and empeltre, will have a lower proportion of monounsaturated and higher proportion of polyunsaturated.

Photo 2: Benefits of olive oil

3. Benefits of Olive oil for your health

The extra virgin olive oil contributes a great amount of benefits for our health. Next we expose the most important of the known ones, because at the present time there is still a great investigation of this product and they continue discovering more advantages of it.

Cardiovascular effects

The cardiovascular properties of extra virgin olive oil are one of the best known benefits of this product.

• Reduces Cholesterol Level:
• The extra virgin olive oil raises the good cholesterol, the so-called HDL and lowers the bad, the LDL.

• Decreases the risk of heart attacks.
• It reduces probability of Thrombosis.
• Protection against hypertension.
• Decrease in blood glucose.

Digestive effects:

• Decrease in gastric acidity.
• Protection in ulcers and gastritis.
• Regulates Intestinal Transit.

Oxidative Deterioration Prevention

• Prevention deterioration of brain functions.
• Prevention against Cancer (Colon, Breast and Prostate).
• Fight against aging.
• Anti-inflammatory properties: Oleocanthal.

Others:

• Link with slimming.
• Hydration and Toning Epidermis
• Benefit of bone growth.
• Recommended for breastfeeding.
• Favors diabetics.

Picture 4: Cosmetics made with Castillo de Peñalver organic olive oil

4. Benefits olive oil of fasting

A few decades ago fats were blamed for increased obesity, heart disease and others that have grown in developed countries, with nutritionists recommending increased consumption of carbohydrates instead of fats. With the advancement of research, the scientific and nutritional community are realizing that this is a big mistake. Fats are necessary and we must increase their consumption, especially of the healthiest fats; polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.

With the confirmation of the benefits of fats and especially monounsaturated fats such as extra virgin olive oil, old customs are re-emerging which are very beneficial to health, such as the consumption of a spoon of extra virgin olive oil on an empty stomach in the morning. We recommend that the extra virgin olive oil consumed be of the highest quality and of the year.

When taking the extra virgin olive oil in fasting we obtain that they are absorbed completely, increasing enormously the benefits that the oil contributes to us.

This is a very ancient tradition of Mediterranean countries that centenarians have pointed out as one of the fundamental reasons for their good health at very advanced ages.

5. Tips for taking olive oil on an empty stomach

If it seems a little hard to take a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil on an empty stomach, you can take it as follows. Heat up some water, add a little lemon juice and a spoonful of water. This way it will taste tastier and you will also get all the benefits of olive oil and lemon.

Source:

The magazine specializing in extra virgin olive oil. The truth benefits of olive oil. Olive Oil Times