Why Is Extra Virgin Olive Oil Good In The Fight Against Cholesterol
Because extra virgin olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats. These are the fats which increase good cholesterol and reduce the bad type contrasting with other foodstuffs which are full of saturated fats, responsible in part for the increase in cholesterol. Among these foods, we have dairy products and meat. These foods can be eaten but always in moderation so as not to increase the level of bad cholesterol.
If you want to know more about saturated fats, you can read this interesting article. And if you want to have more information about monounsaturated fats,
Truth: All Plant Foods Are Rich In Polyphenols And Plant Sterols And Most Deliver Far More Polyphenols And Plant Sterols Than Does Olive Oil
Polyphenols are antioxidant plant compounds that are linked with better heart health, including less oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a process that inflames the arteries and heightens the risk of plaque rupture and heart attacks. Plant sterols are another plant chemical that interferes with cholesterol absorption from the gut and helps lower LDL cholesterol.
But the problem is: If youre relying on olive oil for your polyphenols and plant sterols, youve got to eat a lot more calories to get a decent amount of these phytochemicals, and eating lots of calories is just what Americans, with our epidemic rates of obesity, do not need.
A mere tablespoon of olive oil delivers a hefty 120 calories for a mere 30mg of polyphenols/plant sterols. By contrast, just 11 calories of green leafy lettuce gets you about the same amount of polyphenols/plant sterols.
This olive oil nutrition chart compares the nutrients in olive oil with the nutrients in green leafy lettuce.
And so much more. to open a chart comparing the nutrients in the same number of calories from green leafy lettuce and olive oil. Keep in mind, too, what mountains of research over the past several decades have told us. Consistently, the foods linked with healthier, longer, disease-free lives are foods rich in all kinds of nutrients vitamins, minerals, fiber, polyphenols, beta carotene, and so on. Yes, foods like leafy greens. Olive oil, by comparison, tallies up a whole lot of zeros.
A Faster & Easer Solution For Healthier Cholesterol Levels
There are a few ways for promoting healthier cholesterol levels within a normal, youthful range diet and exercise being two important factors.
Unfortunately, they take time and most people are either NOT patient or need faster results, with less effort
This is the exact problem I ran into with my own parents.
Because of this, I needed to find a simple, easy and fast solution for promoting healthier lipid levels in less than 30 days, without the use of harmful prescription drugs, worthless supplements or following a restrictive diet.
If this is something youre also interested in, you can easily copy this proven formula, implement it and start seeing and feeling results within days
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What Tips Do You Have For Eating Healthier Fats
Hahn shared these added tips for including healthy fats into your diet:
- Add a tablespoon of chopped nuts to a salad
- Cook with a light drizzle of olive oil
- Incorporate more fish into your meals during the week
- Use avocados to make chicken or tuna salad instead of mayo
- Limit overly fatty meats, baked or other highly processed, high sugar and fried foods
Inflammatory Substances Promote Plaque Growth
As evidence continues to mount affirming that inflammatory substances in the blood promote plaque growth, plaque rupture, and clot formation, all of which likely increase the risk of heart attacks, weve got to start asking ourselves: Is any fat, even so-called good fats, beneficial in terms of preventing heart attacks and strokes?’ says Kimberly Gomer, MS, RD, Director of Nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center.
Certainly, a single high-fat meal has been shown to impair blood flow in part because of acute damage to the endothelium, which may explain why angina is often much worse for several hours after each high-fat meal. A vital question scientists must ask is: How much inflammatory damage do dietary fats cause, and, as a result, how much cardiovascular disease are they causing?
A study in the Journal of Lipid Research conducted at the University of Kentucky clearly demonstrated in animals that a high-fat diet promoted the absorption from the gut of lipopolysaccharides , toxic substances that are part of bacterial cell membranes. Thats troubling because high levels of LPS trigger immune cells to increase inflammation.
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How Much Olive Oil Per Day Should You Consume
While the exact amount of olive oil thats right for you will depend on factors like what other fat sources you consume, your size, and your activity level, you may start to reap some of the benefits at just 1 tablespoon per day.
Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is seriously good for you and absolutely loaded with health benefits, thanks to its beneficial monounsaturated fatty acids and high levels of anti-inflammatory polyphenols and antioxidants.
This Mediterranean diet staple has been linked to numerous cardiovascular benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease, improved cholesterol levels , and lower blood pressure. And beyond the heart, EVOO has been associated with weight loss, cognitive health, lower blood sugar, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, and more.
But how much olive oil do you actually need to be consuming per day to reap these impressive benefits? While legend has it that Cretan fisherman used to down an entire cup of olive oil every morning before hitting the high seas, thats probably a bit overkill. Below, we dive into what the research says is the ideal amount of olive oil for you.
Combine Oil With Antioxidants To Be Safe
Vogel’s own research, in fact, has shown that when olive oil is combined with foods rich in antioxidants, such as vegetables, the vessel-constricting effect disappears. All you have to do is combine olive oil with red wine vinegar, which is loaded with the same antioxidants found in wine, and it appears you can prevent the deleterious effect on blood vessels.
So was the uproar over olive oil a false alarm? Only time will tell. First, the results of Vogel’s small study must be duplicated by other researchers. Keep in mind, his findings were presented at a meeting and haven’t yet been published. Then, if the effect on blood vessels is firmly linked to greater risk of heart disease, there may well be a reason to steer clear of olive oil.
For now, if you are the worrying type, make sure you drizzle your olive oil over leafy greens and vegetables — or in pasta with a lot of tomatoes and basil. And avoid sopping your bread with the olive oil served at trendy Italian restaurants these days.
Remember, to study the effects of certain foods or nutrients, researchers must isolate them from the rest of the diet. But most of us don’t eat meals consisting of a single food. To play it safe, just make sure your diet is abundant in fruits and vegetables, which have clearly been found to lower heart disease risk.
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Olive Oil Vs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Most of the modifiers that go before olive oil, such as virgin or extra virgin, refer to the process that manufacturers use to produce the oil. Extra virgin olive oils have undergone the least processing.
When the manufacturer processes the oil, they clean it with chemicals and then heat it. These processes prolong the shelf life, which is great for the food industry, but they may strip away a lot of the oils flavor and some of its benefits.
According to research , extra virgin olive oil has more polyphenols than regular olive oil. Polyphenols are a type of antioxidant, and they have many health benefits. Refining olive oil strips it of its vitamins, polyphenols, and other natural ingredients.
Many people find that extra virgin olive oil has a more pleasant taste than olive oils that have undergone more processing. Fresh, unprocessed extra virgin olive oil should taste:
- a bit fruity
- a little bitter, similar to biting into an olive
- slightly peppery
If the oil tastes metallic, flavorless, or musty, this may be due to overprocessing, or the oil might have gone bad.
Many people opt for cold pressed, unfiltered, or stone pressed products when choosing which extra virgin olive oil to purchase. With these options, the oil has not undergone heating or filtering, which usually adds chemicals to the oil.
Olive Oil And Cholesterol Your Questions Answered
In the title of this article, we use two terms that seem to go hand in hand, those of olive oil and cholesterol. But, as you will see from this article, olive oil and cholesterol are linked but only in that olive oil destroys bad cholesterol and increases levels of good cholesterol. But, first of all, we should define what cholesterol is. So lets begin:
What is cholesterol? What do we mean by good and bad cholesterol? What can happen to your health if you suffer from high levels of cholesterol? Is extra virgin olive oil good for reducing cholesterol? Is it better than other types of oil? What habits should you change to have a correct level of cholesterol? If you are interested in the answers to all of these questions, continue reading because we are going to answer all of them.
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Nearly Triple The Risk Of Heart Problems
In fact, in a recent study, Dr. Borge Nordestgaard at the University of Copenhagen demonstrated just how dangerous cholesterol remnants like chylomicrons can be. He and colleagues followed nearly 12,000 people in Denmark who had established coronary heart disease, diagnosed between 1976 and 2010. The scientists found that each 1 mmol increase in nonfasting remnant cholesterol caused a nearly 3-fold greater risk of a coronary heart disease event.
Bottom Line: More research is needed to better elucidate the mechanism by which dietary fat promotes inflammation and may increase the risk of cardiovascular events, counsels Gomer.
However, it may be time to question the wisdom of promoting diets with 20 to 35% fat or more for people with cardiovascular disease and/or type 2 diabetes. Diets this high in fat appear to greatly increase both acute and chronic lowgrade inflammation in the body. Increasingly, inflammation is being linked to not only more cardiovascular disease but also insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Truth: Olive Oil Is Not Hearthealthy
Yes, foods rich in monounsaturated fats like olive oil may be better than foods full of saturated and trans fats, but just because something is better does not mean it is good for you.
Better cigarettes pyrenes) still promote lung cancer. Better monounsaturated fats like olive oil may still lead to diseased arteries. When scientists fed a monounsaturated fatrich diet to monkeys for five years, the monkeys developed extensive atherosclerotic plaques in their coronary arteries.
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Why Olive Oil Is So Good For The Heart
All cholesterol is not equal. It comes in healthy and unhealthy forms, and doctors have long advised people to cut back on the bad cholesterol, LDL, found in red meats and fried foods. The good kind, HDL, pulls out the LDL that builds up on blood vessel walls and raises risk for a heart attack. Upping levels of HDL may therefore protect the heart from damage.
Thats the theory, but studies looking at HDL levels and heart disease events havent always shown that higher HDL levels lead to lower risk of disease. Scientists may finally know why. In a new study of nearly 300 people at high risk of heart disease, published in the journal Circulation, researchers found that just having high levels of HDL may not be enough to make a heart healthy. But the Mediterranean diet may help HDL to work more effectively.
The people in the yearlong study were randomly assigned to eat either a low-fat diet with little red meat and plenty of fruits and vegetables, or one of two versions of the Mediterranean diet: one enriched with olive oil and the other with nuts. After the year, the researchers compared the blood cholesterol levels of the participants to their starting levels. They found that only the people who ate the low-fat, non-Mediterranean diet lowered their total and LDL cholesterol levels, but that the people eating the two Mediterranean diets had better-working HDL.
Protection Against Specific Cancers
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and your diet can play a huge role in determining if youre vulnerable to it.
However, Mediterranean countries tend to have lower cancer patients, especially in areas where olive oil is used in large quantities. People in these areas had a lower risk of breast cancer and cancers of the digestive system.
Reduced oxidative damage due to free radicals with the help of antioxidants like oleocanthal plays a role in reducing risk factors of cancer.
While there are many studies to do before the benefits of extra virgin olive oil against cancer are fully confirmed, you should still consider it.
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Tactics To Reduce Cholesterol Quickly
For most of us, theres really no need to pack our medicine cabinets with pills to reduce cholesterol levels. Natural, lifestyle-based strategies have proven extraordinarily effective in reducing cholesterol quickly and permanently.
Get the top 5 food and fitness tips recommended by the doctors, dietitians, exercise experts, and other faculty at the Pritikin Longevity Center. Pritikin has been helping people lower cholesterol levels since 1975.
Did you know that for every 10% drop in your cholesterol level, your heart attack risk drops by 20% to 30%? Theres more good news: Most of us can reduce cholesterol quickly, and without the need for medications. Simple lifestyle strategies can be very powerful.
Thats what several studies on thousands following the Pritikin Program of diet and exercise have found. Within three weeks, people were able to lower their cholesterol levels on average 23%, which translates into a 46% to 69% drop in heart attack risk.1
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Olive Oil And Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimers disease is the worlds most common neurodegenerative disease and a leading cause of dementia.
One feature of Alzheimers is a buildup of protein tangles called beta-amyloid plaques in certain neurons in the brain.
A study in mice observed that a substance in olive oil can help clear these plaques .
Additionally, a controlled study in humans showed that a Mediterranean diet enriched with olive oil improved brain function and reduced the risk of cognitive impairment .
Summary
Preliminary evidence suggests that olive oil can help fight cancer and Alzheimers disease, although human studies need to confirm this.
During cooking, fatty acids can oxidize, meaning they react with oxygen and become damaged.
The double bonds in fatty acid molecules are mostly responsible for this.
For this reason, saturated fats, which have no double bonds, are resistant to high heat. Meanwhile, polyunsaturated fats, which have many double bonds, are sensitive and become damaged.
Olive oil contains mostly monounsaturated fatty acids, which have only one double bond, and is fairly resistant to moderate heat.
In one study, researchers heated extra virgin olive oil to 356°F for 36 hours. The oil was highly resistant to damage .
Another study used olive oil for deep-frying, and it took 2427 hours for it to reach damage levels that were deemed harmful (
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Should You Switch To Corn Oil To Lower Cholesterol
A newly published study shows that corn oil reduces cholesterol much more effectively than extra virgin olive oil. But before you make a switch, there are some other factors to consider
Cindy writes,
Recently Ive been seeing ads on television saying that corn oil is better than olive oil for lowering cholesterol. I’ve always used olive oil and canola oil. Now, Im thinking of changing from canola oil to corn oil. Should I make the switch?
I bet Cindy’s not the only one who has been seeing these ads. Makers of corn oil are spending a lot of money right now to promote the results of a study showing that a diet rich in corn oil reduced cholesterol more than a diet rich in olive oil.
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Large Amount Of Antioxidants
The natural extraction method and minimal refinement ensure extra virgin olive oil retains most of its nutrients and antioxidants.
EVOO contains over 30 different types of phenolic compounds powerful antioxidants that protect your body against free radicals. Free radicals are molecules responsible for aging, diseases, and cell damage.
The large amounts of antioxidants fight against inflammation and protect your blood cholesterol from oxidation, effectively reducing the risk of heart disease.
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What To Eat: Foods That Lower Cholesterol
There is great evidence to support functional foods that help lower cholesterol, Featherstun says. Add these choices to your diet:
Plant stanols and sterols These are naturally occurring compounds found in plant cell walls, Featherstun says. They interfere with cholesterol absorption in the small intestine and can help lower LDL cholesterol. A study published in October 2012 in Lipids in Health and Disease found that eating 9 to 10 grams of stanols per day can help lower LDL cholesterol by more than 17 and as much as 22 percent. You can get plant stanols and sterols in margarine-like spreads such as Benecol and Smart Balance, available in the dairy section of most grocery stores.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats These fats can help decrease LDL cholesterol, Featherstun says. To get them, eat fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, trout, herring, or king mackerel, at least twice a week. Other good sources of unsaturated fats include chia seeds, avocados, almonds, walnuts, and olive oil.
Soy foods Soy proteins contain isoflavones and phytoestrogens, which block both cholesterol absorption and new cholesterol production, Featherstun says. Good sources of soy protein include tofu, soy milk, and edamame. Try to replace one daily animal protein item with a soy protein alternative, Featherstun suggests.
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