Whats so good about Olive Oil??

[Daio]

Hi Guys...first post on here.....I did a quick search here on Olive Oil and found loads of threads praiaing Olive oil......I was wondering why you think it is so good. There is over 70 times more Omega3's in Flaxseed Oil than olive oil.

Olive oil is much cheaper, but then again Sunflowere oil is even cheaper still?

Why the love for olive oil?

Cheers

[zoina21]

Hi Guys...first post on here.....I did a quick search here on Olive Oil and found loads of threads praiaing Olive oil......I was wondering why you think it is so good. There is over 70 times more Omega3's in Flaxseed Oil than olive oil.

Olive oil is much cheaper, but then again Sunflowere oil is even cheaper still?

Why the love for olive oil?

Cheers

because portugal exports olive oil, buyng it will boost our weak economy...
in a more serious note, olive oil reduces cholesterol, contains vitamin E, helps increase HDL, reduces triglicerides, lower blood pressure, improves glicose metabolism, contains antioxidants, etc

[svillasenor]

Olive Oil Highly Protective against Heart Disease

Relying only on olive oil may cut your risk of coronary heart disease almost in half, show results from the CARDIO2000 case-control study, published in Clinical Cardiology (Kontogianni MD, Panagiotakos DB, et al.).

Conducted in Greece, and involving 700 men and 148 women with coronary heart disease, and 1078 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, this study looked not only at diet but also at alcohol intake, physical activity and smoking habits. Nutritional habits, including use of oils in daily cooking or preparation of food, was also evaluated.

Even after adjustments were made to account for a variety of other variables -- including body mass index, smoking, physical activity level, educational status, a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes -- exclusive use of olive oil was associated with a 47% lower likelihood of having coronary heart disease.

Studies on olive oil and atherosclerosis reveal that particles of LDL cholesterol (the potentially harmful cholesterol) that contain the monounsaturated fats of olive oil are less likely to become oxidized. Since only oxidized cholesterol sticks to artery walls, eventually forming the plaques that can lead to a heart attack or stroke, preventing the oxidation of cholesterol is a good way to help prevent atherosclerosis. A recent in vitro study also showed that polyphenolic compounds present in olive oil, including oleuropein, inhibit the adhesion of monocyte cells to the blood vessel lining, a process that is involved in the development of atherosclerosis. In addition, when people with high cholesterol levels removed the saturated fat from their diets and replaced it with olive oil, their total cholesterol levels dropped an average of 13.4%, and their LDL cholesterol levels dropped by 18%. Note, however, that these benefits occurred when they used olive oil in place of other fats, rather than simply adding olive oil to a diet high in unhealthy fats.

A study published in the Medical Science Monitor reported that 2 tablespoons a day of olive oil added to an otherwise unchanged diet in 28 outpatients, ranging in age from 64 to 71, resulted in significant drops in total- and LDL cholesterol. Mean concentrations of total cholesterol were lowered by 0.818 mmol/L, and mean concentrations of LDL dropped 0.782 mmol/L. Plus, subjects ratio of HDL:LDL greatly improved; they ended up with higher amounts of protective HDL in relation to lower amounts of dangerous LDL cholesterol.

In this study, scientists found that the phenols in olive oil have very potent antioxidant effects. The protective effects exerted by extra virgin olive oil biophenols, namely, protocatechuic acid and oleuropein, against LDL oxidation included:

* completely preventing LDL's oxidation when placed in a medium containing macro****e-like cells (in the arteries, arteriosclerosis begins when macro****es damage LDL, starting the development of foam cells that infiltrate the lining of the artery and begin plaque formation)
* inhibiting the production of two powerful oxidants that would normally have been produced and would have damaged LDL, thus preventing the expected decrease in glutathione, a powerful antioxidant the body produces to disarm oxidants (also called free radicals)
* restoring to normal levels the protective activities of two free radical-disarming enzymes that contain glutathione: glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase
* inducing higher than normal production and activity of both of these glutathione-containing enzymes.

Virgin Olive Oil the Best Oil for Heart Health

Virgin olive oil, a much richer source of polyphenols than refined olive or other refined oils, is the best vegetable oil for heart health, shows the results of the Eurolive study, published in the September 2006 Annals of Internal Medicine.

The 6 research center study, led by Maria-Isabel Covas of the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, assigned 200 healthy men from 5 European countries - Spain, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Germany - to one of three sequences of daily consumption of olive oil. The men replaced their normal dietary fats with olive oil (25 mL) containing either 2.7 (refined), 164 (virgin), or 366 (extra virgin) mg/kg of phenols for 3 weeks. This was followed by 2 weeks without any olive oil and then a cross-over to each of the other 2 remaining interventions.

Blood samples were taken before and after each intervention to measure blood sugar, total and HDL (good) cholesterol, triglycerides, free radical damage to cholesterol, and antioxidant levels.

The data revealed a linear increase in HDL (good) cholesterol levels as the phenolic content of the olive oil increased, with increases of 0.025, 0.032, and 0.045 mmol/L for the low, medium and high polyphenol-containing olive oils.

Oxidized LDL (the form in which LDL is involved in atherosclerosis) decreased linearly, dropping from 1.21 U/L , to -1.48 U/L , to -3.21 U/L for the low-, medium-, and high-polyphenol olive oil, respectively. And the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, considered the most specific cholesterol-associated risk factor for cardiovascular disease, also decreased linearly as the phenolic content of the olive oil rose.

A statement released by the Municipal Institute of Medical Research noted, 'This study represents a key piece for recommendations and contributes information with great repercussions for the community, especially in populations or countries where olive oil does not comprise the habitual oil of the diet."

Olive Oil Especially Protective in People with High Cholesterol

A variation on the above study also shows that including some extra virgin olive oil (which is rich in clot-fighting phenols) in your meals may help prevent the formation of blood clots, an occurrence whose likelihood increases after eating, particularly in people with high cholesterol.

In the early stages of atherosclerosis, the balance between clot-promoting and clot-dissolving factors in the blood vessels shifts in favor of clot formation, a situation made even more dangerous by the high levels of fat that can appear in the blood after a meal.

Researchers had 21 people with high cholesterol eat two different breakfasts. For one week, they consumed either white bread with virgin olive oil containing 400 parts per million phenols, or white bread with olive oil from which much of the phenols had been extracted, leaving only 80 parts per million. Study participants then switched to the opposite meal. After the high-phenol olive oil meal, participants' concentrations of two clot promoters, factor VII antigen and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, were much lower compared to the low-phenol olive oil meal. (Ruano J, Lopez-Miranda J, et al., Am J Clin Nutr.)

Anti-Inflammatory Benefits

As far as other diseases go, regular use of olive oil has been associated with lower rates of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. The monounsaturated fats in olive oil are used by the body to produce substances which are relatively anti-inflammatory. By reducing inflammation, these fats can help reduce the severity of arthritis symptoms, and may be able to prevent or reduce the severity of asthma.

Minor components of extra virgin olive oil-namely, its squalene, beta-sitosterol and tyrosol -may help explain why the Mediterranean diet has shown such beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and cancer prevention, suggests a study published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine. It is generally accepted in the medical community that excessive production of free radicals and inflammatory compounds derived from the body's use of omega-6 fatty acids (found primarily in meats, corn, safflower and sunflower oils) contributes to the development of both cardiovascular disease and cancer. In this study, researchers tested the effects of squalene, beta-sitosterol and tyrosol on a number of free radicals as well as on inflammatory compounds produced from omega-6 fats (arachidonic acid metabolites). In each case, the olive oil compounds either significantly inhibited production of the problem-causing molecules or rendered them harmless.

Olive Oil Phenols Protect DNA from Free Radical Damage

Extra-virgin olive oil, which, when properly cold pressed and stored in opaque containers, is naturally high in phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties, may be one of the key reasons for the lower incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease in the Mediterranean region, suggests a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

This randomized, crossover study involving 10 healthy postmenopausal women in Florence, Italy, found that when the women consumed extra-virgin olive oil high in phenols, their DNA experienced a whopping 30% less damage than that seen when they consumed an olive oil in which the content of phenols, which can be destroyed by light and heat, was low.

Fit Fat with Fat

Substituting olive oil, a monounsaturated fat or MUFA, for saturated fat in your diet can translate into a small but significant loss of both body weight and fat mass without changing anything else about your diet or increasing your physical activity, suggests a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. One of the most interesting facts about this research is that it was conducted on eight overweight or obese men, ranging in age from 24 to 49 years. All the men followed one of two diets for 4 weeks each. The first, saturated fat-rich diet provided 24% of calories from saturated fat, 13% from monounsaturated fat, and 3% from polyunsaturated fat, while in the second MUFA-rich diet, 11% of calories came from saturated fats, 22% from monounsaturated fat and 7% from polyunsaturated fat. At the end of the MUFA-rich diet, despite the fact that no significant differences were detected in caloric intake, energy expenditure or physical activity, the men were 2.1 kg lighter and their fat mass had decreased by 2.6 kg.

[dizzay20]

It has many health benefits.

[Daio]

wow!!!

So there are many general health benefits, rather than specific ones relating to bodybuilding.

Cheers guys, that makes sense!