Help Your Diabetic Problems With Olive Oil
Olive Oil is the foundation of the highly suggested Mediterranean diet. Since the Mediterranean diet is so highly recommended, everyone should go right to their neighborhood grocery store and use olive oil for cooking.
We all wish it were that easy, but unfortunately, because of low quality olive oil providers, it isn’t as seamless.
Amazing Nutritional Facts about Olive Oil
Did you know that 1 tablespoon of olive oil contains an average of:
- 14 grams of total fat
- 2 grams of saturated fats
- No fiber, no sugar
- No cholesterol
- And no fiber
In addition, olive oil is also a great source of Vitamins E and K and no protein — so all the calories come from fats.
Essentially, what makes olive oil so outstanding to use is the types of fat it actually contains.
Quality Olive Oils generally contain 1318 mg of omega-6 fats and 103 mg of omega-3 fats. Furthermore, Olive Oil also contains over 10 grams of either mono - or poly-unsaturated fats — the healthier types of fats.
Olive oil also has almost 30 g of phytosterols, a type of plant substance which is chemically comparable to cholesterol but assist in maintaining heart health as a result of inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol from food and lowers the amount of LDL cholesterol, the “bad” cholesterol that is associated with heart disease.
Finally, Olive Oil is rich in antioxidants such as oleocanthal and oleuropein — those plant substances that can aid in reducing the oxidative damage caused to our bodies by high levels of blood sugar.
So What is the Best Form of Olive Oil?
The fact is that there are a great amount of people out there making and selling olive oil with less than 100% pure high quality olive oil. Olive oil has become so popular, there are an assortments of forms of olive oil that are not pure olive oil.
So first, you need to purchase reputable, well- known brands of olive oil and only get 100% extra virgin olive oil —extra virgin olive oil is pressed— it is not subjected to any heat or any chemicals, it is simply pressed.
How Can Olive Oil Help A Diabetic?
Olive Oil can help diabetics in a variety of ways:
Olive oil is, as mentioned before, high in antioxidants. Antioxidants can assist in diminish the damage that is due to the oxidative stress caused by high levels of sugar in the blood — and in that way, reduce the risk of the complications of diabetes, including:
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Retinal neuropathy
- High blood pressure
- And heart disease
Olive oil is an anti-inflammatory food. Since inflammation is at the main root of most if not all chronic diseases, adding olive oil to your food can help reduce this inflammation and the damage that long-term inflammation can inflict on cells.
Long-term inflammation is thought to play an essential role in diabetes and the complications of diabetes. The primary substance in olive oil that play a role as an anti-inflammatory agent is oleocanthal, which acts on the COX enzyme system in such a way similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.
Olive Oil reduces the risk of vascular and heart disease by:
- Reducing inflammation
- Protecting LDL-cholesterol (often called “bad” cholesterol) from oxidative damage (which makes LDL-cholesterol “bad”)
- Reduces the risk of blood clots
- Lowers blood pressure
- Strengthens the lining of the blood vessels
- Potentially protecting against Alzheimer’s disease—often called Type III diabetes
Overall, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is highly suggested – ultimately, you can use it on salads, drizzle it on breads and use it in cooking, though using lower heats may provide the best benefits because there is less chance of heat damage to the fats in olive oil.