I’ve just had the pleasure of tasting some beautiful olive oil from the P S Lambis family, thanks to the wonderful Savannah who is the old boy’s grand daughter. It’s the first premium extra virgin olive oil to come from Cyprus and there are just 900 bottles per year. We hope to have a few of this limited edition for sale at the clinic if you’d like to try it. Its light and almost sweet and very delicious.
We all know that the Mediterranean diet is known to be one of the best in the world for a long and healthy life. Traditionally, the diet is rich in fruits and vegetables (including wild plants), nuts and cereals, cheese, fish, a little red wine and plenty of olive oil.
Throughout history, virgin olive oil has been prized and the father of Western medicine, Hippocrates, lists 60 health conditions that can be treated with it.
Today’s studies prove that extra virgin olive oil from Greece, Italy and Spain is rich in oleic acid (omega 9) and phenolic compounds, which work together with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-microbial properties.
As an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial, virgin olive oil has been proven to:
- Reduce cardio-vascular disease & arteriosclerosis: each 10g/d increase in consumption is associated with 16% reduction in cardiovascular mortality
- Reduce likelihood of developing cancer, especially breast, colorectal, prostate, skin, pancreas & endometrial cancers: approximately 25% of the incidence of colorectal cancer, 15% of breast cancer, and 10% prostate, pancreas and endometrial cancer could be prevented if traditional Mediterranean dietary patterns were followed
- Prevent & reduce inflammation
- Improve antimicrobial activity
- Disrupt the process vital to the formation of Alzheimer’s
- Decrease markers for arthritis
- Defend against free radical attacks & improve antioxidant status
- Prevent skin disorders
- Lower blood pressure
- Improve immune responses & promote wound healing
- Reduce pain
One of the most remarkable phenolic compounds is oleocanthal – the element that gives superior virgin olive oils their distinctive pungency and pepper-like sensation at the back of the throat, sometimes even inducing a cough. It’s a naturally occurring non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) possessing similar anti-inflammatory properties to Ibuprofen. It also reduces proliferation, migration and also promotes apoptosis in cancer cells as well as preventing tumour induced cell transformation.
Heating olive oil, either at extraction or when cooking, reduces the effectiveness of oleocanthal, so it’s important to choose a cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and keep it in a cool, dark place when you get it home.
Explore the rest of the blog to learn more about the importance of nutrition or make an appointment with us at Well4ever on 020 8789 4362
R. Ghanbari, (2012) ‘Valuable Nutrients and Functional Bioactives in Different Parts of Olive (Olea europaea L.) – A Review’, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, v.13(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317714/
L.Parkinson (2014), ‘Oleocanthal, a phenolc derived from virgin olive oil: a review of the beneficial effects on inflammatory disease’, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, v.15(7)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25019344
M. Guash-Ferre (2014), ‘Olive oil intake and risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in the PREDIMED Study’, BMC Med, v.12
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030221/
S. Cicerale (2009), ‘Influence of Heat in Biological Activity and Concentration of Oleocanthal – a Natural Anti-Inflammatory Agent in Virgin Olive Oil’, Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, v.57(4)
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf803154w
T. Psaltopoulou (2011), ‘Olive oil intake is inversely related to cancer prevalence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 13800 patients and 23340 controls in 19 observational studies’, Lipids in Health and Disease, v.10
