Benefits of Olive Oil
Author: gostjobles
Virgin olive oil is a natural juice and a healthy source of monounsaturated fatty acids and hundreds of micronutrients, especially antioxidants, including phenolic compounds over (simple, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol) and other polyphenols such as oleuropein glucoside, or other compomentes similar (secoiridoids, ligstroside, aglycones, lignans), vitamin E and carotenoids and minor components such as squalene, sitosterol, and pigments among others. These vary depending on the type of olive oil, place of culture, climate and harvest, being higher in the variety and lower in virgin olive oil common and almost no or low oil the olive pomace. That is, the olive oil is a functional food, especially the variety virgin, and that polyphenols have antioxidant properties in vitro showed a lot higher even than vitamin E in lipid and DNA oxidation.
The consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturates (PUFA) lowers cholesterol levels of low density lipoprotein (LDLc). As olive oil is a very good source of MUFA and PUFA containing also help to lower LDL cholesterol. Recently the FDA has declared that 2 tablespoons of olive oil is of benefit for coronary heart disease (2.3 grams) considering its high content of MUFA. However, these benefits of consuming a large amount of MUFA only, even knowing that can come from other foods (pork and poultry fat) seems not to have all the beneficial effects on health.
So rather than recommending increased consumption of MUFA, it would be advisable to indicate virgin olive oil variety, as they would their phenolic compounds that would grant health benefits. Regarding olive oil effects on HDL, there is no consensus on the effect of these fatty acids, but described a significant increase in HDLc relative to olive oil consumption in the EUROLIVE study in all varieties olive oil.
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