Description
Due to its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid), olive oil provides important health benefits.
Olive oil raises HDL (beneficial) cholesterol levels and lowers LDL-c (“bad” cholesterol). It helps control arterial hypertension and reduces the appearance of thrombosis.
The anti-atherosclerotic properties of virgin olive oil can be attributed in part to the presence of minor components, such as phenolic compounds, that play a protective role against LDL oxidation. Its potential biological effect is reduced or disappears in those olive oils that have been subjected to certain washing and/or refining processes in which said components have been eliminated (Joaquín Carlos Surra et al., 2015).
In addition, some studies show that consuming olive oil daily is essential to prevent certain types of cancer, especially lung and stomach cancer, but also endometrial, ovarian and colon cancer (D’Angelo et al., 2005; Hamdi et al., 2005; M.A. Zamora Ardoy et al., 2003).
Olive oil has been shown to have a great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect. Its polyphenols are bioactive compounds that act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories (Beauchamp et al., 2005). The presence of high concentrations of a phenolic alcohol such as hydroxytyrosol, which you can find in olive oil or olives, has a powerful antioxidant capacity both in vitro and in vivo (Visioli et al., 2000).
Olive oil helps protect against diabetes, due to its beneficial effects on blood glucose and insulin sensitivity (M.A. Zamora Ardoy et al., 2003; A. Marí-Sanchis et al., 2011).
Finally, it has been proven that the modulation of the immune response exerted by diets containing olive oil, means less suppression of lymphocyte proliferation, greater production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and ultimately, a bigger phagocytic capacity of macrophages/monocytes, an essential factor in order to eliminate pathogenic agents (M. A. Puertollano et al., 2010).
