Oil your liver needs

Olive oil is enjoying widespread popularity. In its cold pressed and extra virgin form olive oil provides monounsaturated fats and antioxidants that yield a range of health benefits. Add to this the pleasant taste that olive offers anything from a salad to a pasta dish and you can see why this oil is central to the famously healthy Mediterranean Diet.

The even better news on olive oil now is that it also protects your liver.

Olive oil has been known for a long while to be good for your heart. It lowers cholesterol and even lowers blood pressure. It will reduce inflammation throughout the body and this yields a range of benefits not only for your heart but also in support of your immune system and possibly in reduction of cancer risk.

To test the impact of olive oil on the liver rats were fed either whole olive oil or the water soluble or fat soluble portions of olive oil. It was found that extra virgin olive oil and the water soluble part of olive oil both caused a significant increase in antioxidant activity in the liver and decreases liver damage.

The water soluble portion of olive oil is the antioxidant portion and this suggests that olive oil has a direct antioxidant and protective effect on liver cells.

The important thing to remember in this is that, as the old advertising saying goes, “oils aint oils”. This is particularly true when it comes to olive oil.

Extra virgin is a good thing to look for in your olive oil as it indicates that the oil is low in acidity. Most importantly though, you need to establish that the olive oil you buy is cold pressed. It is cold pressed extra virgin olive oil that delivers the highest levels of antioxidants and also the best taste.

Store your olive oil in a dark cool place and use it within a year of opening. Olive oil truly is one of nature’s great foods. Drizzle cold pressed extra virgin olive oil on your salads, pastas, and even direct onto your crusty bread. (Does using words like “drizzle” put me in line for a cooking show? Everyone else has one.) Your heart will be happy you are using it and, according to this new research, you might liver little longer.

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