Natural HealthOlive Oil Facts
By Laura Ng
Have you heard people singing praises of olive oil that you're now itching to try it out yourself, whether to improve your health, skin or solely for weight loss? Well, before anything else, I suggest that you learn some hard facts about olive oil before you jump on the olive oil's bandwagon, at least.
Fact #1 — Health Benefits of Olive Oil
Olive oil benefits your health by helping to regulate blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol and blood glucose. It also helps to prevent brain damage and failure of your adrenal glands. You can also consume it in moderation to help you lose weight.
Fact #2 — Skin Benefits of Olive Oil
Olive oil promotes a smooth, radiant complexion and helps to maintain the elasticity of your skin. Besides that, you can use olive oil to heal your dry, brittle nails and soften the cuticles to provide better protection against harmful bacteria. It also helps to condition and add shine to your hair beyond its skin care.
Fact #3 — Disadvantages of Olive Oil
Olive oil carries predominantly monounsaturated fatty acid (about 77%). Any unsaturated fatty acid may promote blood clotting, thereby hampering normal blood circulation. However, because of its own anti-inflammatory compounds such as hydroxytyrosol, oleocanthal and omega-3, olive oil is able to counteract blood clotting.
But we're not done yet. Again, due to its monounsaturated fatty acid structure, olive oil can readily react with free radicals upon contact with heat. And this could change the nutritional and healthful properties of olive oil. You can avoid this by eating olive oil in its most natural form without heating, like adding as dressing for cold salad or dipping your bread in it.
Fact #4 — Types of Olive Oil
Different types of olive oil provide different nutritional values and hence different health benefits. We have grades of extra-virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, pure olive oil, refined olive oil, olive-pomace oil and lampante oil.
Of these 6 types of olive oil, lampante oil bears the lowest quality (highest acidity level), hence it's not edible but rather, used as a fuel or other commercial products in the industrial market. Extra-virgin olive oil, on the other hand, offers the highest quality (hence, most expensive) because it is made from cold-pressing. Followed by virgin, pure and refined olive oil.
For health benefits, I strongly recommend extra-virgin olive oil. You pay more. Virgin olive oil may offer cheaper alternative but you get less nutritional benefits in return. In short, you get what you pay for.
These olive oil facts serve to provide an overall picture for you. You might want to get into its specifics to find out more details on how olive oil benefits your health.
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