Olive oil has been a staple in cultures around the world for thousands of years — particularly in the Middle East. Furthermore, it seems to be beloved by carnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike. So, what makes the oil so healthy?
Health Benefits of Olive Oil
As Mark Sisson explained in a recent blog post, olive oil has a high MUFA (monounsaturated fats) content. In the health world, MUFAs are universally lauded. This is because they are nearly as resistant to oxidation as saturated fats. They raise HDL cholesterol and lower LDL cholesterol. Furthermore, cellular membranes and mitochondria with a lot of monounsaturated fat perform better than ones with more polyunsaturated fat.
Olive oil also has a high polyphenol content. Extra virgin olive oil, specifically, is rich in polyphenols. The plant nutrients act as antioxidants, thereby protecting it from predators and oxidative stress, health, and light. The polyphenols act as minor toxins in the body, provoking an adaptive hormetic response that makes us stronger, fitter, and healthier.
Depending on who you talk to, they’re either “good” or bad.” But, we like Sisson’s theory that polyphenols can be pretty useful. The reasoning is U-shaped: too little is suboptimal whereas too much — just like with food, exercise, and sun exposure — can produce detrimental effects.
Let’s not forget, either, that olive oil has been enjoyed in classic Mediterranean cuisine for thousands of years. Olive oil has also been used in cosmetics for nearly as long. In fact, the oil of olives was used to cleanse gladiator champions. Even today, the food is used in natural foundations and cleansers.
These are all good arguments, but what does science say?
In this study, overweight women ate one of two breakfasts for a year. The first breakfast was supplemented with soybean oil and the second was supplemented with extra virgin olive oil. Both breakfasts were identical except for the fat source. At the end of the year, the women who at the EVOO breakfast had higher HDL cholesterol, lower inflammatory markers, better blood pressure, and lower body weight.
For this trial, Type 2 diabetics with bad blood lipids were assigned to take either a statin or EVOO. The statin was slightly better at reducing LDL and increasing HDL, but not by a lot. Furthermore, “the EVOO didn’t impair any physiological pathways or cause any undesired second order effects.”
Based on this study, extra virgin olive oil, but not corn oil, reduces postprandial oxidative stress.
This study found that women who ate high-polyphenol EVOO every day for 8 weeks enjoyed reduced oxidative damage to their DNA.
Ways to Enjoy Olive Oil
Aside from sautéing your onions and garlic in olive oil, you can enjoy extra virgin olive oil (least refined version) in the following ways:
Make this healthy and delicious Greek salad dressing
Use olive oil in this roasted asparagus dish
Enjoy olive oil in this Turkish Salad
Isn’t Olive Oil Sensitive to Heat?
Not exactly.. As Sisson pointed out, extra virgin olive oil is resistant to low and medium heat.
“Despite being heated at 180 ºC (356 ºF) for 36 hours, two varieties of extra virgin olive oil exhibited strong resistance to oxidative damage and retained most of their “minor [phenolic] compounds.” Another study added olive phenols to vegetable oil, then heated it. Adding the olive phenols made the vegetable oil more resistant to oxidation and preserved the vitamin E content, offering more protection than even a synthetic antioxidant designed to do the job.