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Welcome to the 21st century, where the low-fat diet is slowly but definitely on its way out to make room for a higher fat, lower carbohydrate diet.

For decades we have been following the faulty advice to lower our fat intake to a bare minimum when increasing the amount of sugar in everything. Even a renowned brand of packaged macaroni and cheese contains added sugar, leaving us wondering why noodles and cheese may possibly have to get sweetened.

Why fat is important

Fat is a macronutrient with many benefits, one of which is the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. It is also a building block of every cell membrane in the body. It provides energy, slows the absorption of other nutrients (so you feel full longer after a meal) and is required for healthy liver function. And let's face it, fat makes food taste better.

Also, did you know that the human brain is more than 50 percent fat? The brain needs fats -- and especially essential fatty acids -- for perfect health. The body doesn't synthesize essential fatty acids so it must obtain them from a healthy diet.

Olive oil is Essential to the Mediterranean diet

It is no secret that Southern Europeans who eat a more Mediterranean Diet, consisting of vegetables, fruits, a great deal of fish and a lot of olive oil, have a higher life expectancy with fewer diseases. An average, Italians and Spaniards consume about 13 gallons of olive oil per person each year. While the whole diet does play a significant role in how healthy people are, it appears the use of extra virgin olive oil is the major contributing factor to wellbeing and health.

In a study published in 2013, researchers followed two groups of individuals for five years. 1 group ate a higher fat Mediterranean diet while the other group followed a low-fat diet.

The higher fat group had a much lower incidence of heart disease, diabetes and far greater success with weight loss.

Olive oil to reduce inflammation

The high-grade extra virgin olive oil contains around 30 polyphenols that act as antioxidants and reduce inflammation within the body. The monounsaturated fatty acids at extra virgin olive oil aid increase HDL ("good") cholesterol while decreasing LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Plus, the additional antioxidants have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Olive oil for better skin

Our European neighbors have understood for many centuries of the many benefits of olive oil -- they use it inside the body and out! On the skin, they use it as an exfoliant blended into a sugar scrub or as a moisturizer. But you don't have to smear olive oil all over you; drinking it is going to supply known anti-aging compounds, such as antioxidants and vitamin E.

Olive oil for weight loss

In the Mediterranean, many men and women start their day with a quarter cup of olive oil. The oleic acid in olive oil has a satiating effect. As stated above, it also slows the absorption of other nutrients, so you will feel full longer and will not have to reach for that mid-morning sugary snack. Despite the fact that the calories from olive oil may be high, the overall intake of calories throughout the day will fall when you are just not that hungry.

Olive oil for a healthy gallbladder

Drinking olive oil can greatly increase the generation of pancreatic juices and bile (which, incidentally, gives poop its brownish color). With oil, the risk of gallstones decreases and bile is important for the breakdown of fats so they can be absorbed into the intestinal wall.

Olive oil for colon health

The polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil act as antioxidants to rid the body of free radicals that could otherwise damage cells, or even lead to cancer.

A study found that drinking olive oil inhibited colon cancer at various stages of the disease. So why don't you use it to fend off cancer to start with? This is not to say that you should bypass those advocated colonoscopies after age 50, but go ahead and add olive oil to your daily regimen as a preventative measure.

Olive oil to manage blood sugar levels

Olive oil has the ability to maintain blood sugar levels low. In 1 study, blood sugar levels stayed lower on people who ate their meal with olive oil, compared to a bunch of individuals eating a meal made out of corn oil. This makes sense because corn is a starch and has the ability to raise blood sugar levels much more than olives.

The best way to start your day with olive oil

With all this talk of the great benefits of olive oil, let us talk about how to take it. We know, of course, that it may be a little difficult to start your day with an whole chance of olive oil on an empty stomach first thing in the afternoon. In fact, if oil is absorbed in large amounts, it may actually upset the stomach that is not utilized to it. Here are a few more ways to go about doing it.

First, start with a tablespoon and increase the amount over time. Another choice is to combine olive oil in a blender with a cup of warm water and the juice of a lemon. It makes it much more palatable and the lemon juice can assist with the easier digestion of the oil. Additionally, lemon juice has been linked to enhanced liver function. A healthy liver produces more bile, which in turn is needed for the appropriate breakdown of fats (and oils) in the small intestine.

Cooking with olive oil

Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil has many benefits when used properly. You may not want to cook at high temperatures, however. While it appears to be considerably more stable than other vegetable oils, all oils break down and lose their nutrients and flavor when cooked on high heat. Additionally, the oxidation that happens during cooking may actually create chemicals that attack healthy tissues in the body. For cooking at extremely high temperatures, it may be advisable to utilize a more stable fat that's a shorter chain fatty acid, such as coconut oil or avocado oil.

So, instead of ingesting olive oil and shedding the health benefits, pour yourself a very small shot to get your day started. Bottoms up!

Heart disease is currently the leading cause of death in the entire world. Why? Owing to hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, and many other factors, more and more people are suffering from heart disease today.

But - apart from chronic medications, what other preventative measures can we take to decrease the likelihood or severity of high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, and other causes?

The polyphenols found in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) are the answer you're searching for. While these won't prevent or cure hypertension, they can certainly assist in reducing it.

Extra virgin olive oils themselves don't contain these health benefits, but rather, they contain phenolic components within them. That's why is so important to purchase EVOOs that are high in polyphenols, otherwise, you are simply using olive oil.

The health benefits of olive oil are 99 percent related to the presence of the phenolic components, not the oil itself.

Hypertension is regarded as a "silent killer," seeing as it causes damage often without us even noticing (until our health situation becomes dire).

What are polyphenols, and how can they benefit hypertension?

Polyphenols are secondary metabolites naturally found in olive oil. Studies indicate that these olive phenols have major antioxidative properties, meaning they are really great for arterial health.

These are great scientific reasons, but what does it actually mean? In other words, studies indicate that polyphenols found in olives can increase the availability of the healthy molecules.

Just how much polyphenols if I eat per day?

It all is dependent upon how well the body absorbs nutrients. According to Meg Hagar, MS, RD, the average human must aim to get at least 650 milligrams of polyphenols a day. Polyphenols aren't just great for arterial health, though. There are many other health benefits connected to polyphenols, including anti-ageing.

Recent studies have also revealed a variety of benefits in terms of medication. Just so we are clear, this does not mean that you should stop your meds or that polyphenols treat heart disease. It is simply an indication of the way beneficial radicals are, and why you will need to incorporate them in your daily diet -- specifically through extra virgin olive oils.

The most essential finding in this research is that the daily usage of olive oil, about 40 grams every day, markedly reduces the dosage of blood pressure medication by about 50 percent in hypertensive patients onto a formerly stable medication dosage.

Scientists go as far as to say that studies show people suffering from high blood pressure can decrease their medication dosages by simply consuming more phenol-rich foods -- specifically extra virgin olive oil.

According to Archives of Internal Medicine, extra virgin olive oil can reduce blood pressure readings - and that people using medication may be able to decrease the amount of medicine they take. This is because radicals decrease nitric acid.

In other words, simply replacing other fats in your diet with phenol-rich olive oils can reduce your high blood pressure reading.

How do I know if I am getting enough polyphenols each day?

You can't very well rely each polyphenol, but you can modify your diet using phenol-rich foods. These include cherries, strawberries, red grapes, artichokes, and extra virgin olive oil - among other foods.

Furthermore, it's also critical to make sure that you purchase the correct olive oils containing enough polyphenols. These alone may help to reduce hypertension and can even enhance general overall health.

In other words, try to follow a Mediterranean diet to reduce high blood pressure. Further studies indicate that olive oil and green veggies are especially beneficial when consumed together. Additionally, phenol-rich olive oil has been shown to enhance the absorption of carotenoids among other fat-soluble vitamins.

It's safe to say that eating a green salad a day should help keep the cardiologist away!

It's important to note that it is not the olive oil itself providing the health benefits, but rather, the compounds found inside. Where other oils have the potential to worsen hypertension, olive oil can actually benefit it.

In a world plagued with unhealthy foods and fats, it is important to incorporate the healthiest possible ingredients for your diet plan. You don't have to drink gallons of olive oil, however.

Simply drink 12ml, or a tablespoon, a day, to absorb all the naturally-occurring chemicals. Add some to your own saladand/or cook for dinner.

The secret lies in how the olives are refined and pressed. The fact that it tastes better than sunflower oil is an added bonus. By following a healthy diet and lowering your high blood pressure, as soon as you can, you may just save your life.

You Simply Use Olive Oil For Special Occasions

Olive oil is used if fresh for two reasons: it tastes great and it retains its nourishment whether it is totally fresh. In addition, let is not forget that olives are fruit and as with just about every fruit, a great deal of the time you prefer their juice fresh.

After 36 months from the harvest date, olive oil is not any longer fresh. So the next time you discover a great olive oil, make certain that you use it.

Never drizzle With Olive Oil

So that you utilize corn oil or canola oil or some other tasteless vegetable or seed oil to prepare. It is often said that it is bad to fry with olive oil. I'm surprised this portion of misinformation still is from the media. So here is the truth: olive oil doesn't have an excessively low smoke point.

As a matter of fact extra virgin olive oil has a higher smoke point than many refined olive oils, it also contains the polyphenols that decrease the rate of oxidation.

With quality olive oils, smoke tip ranges at about 365 to 4 10 degrees Fahrenheit. So if you don't are currently doing industrial heavy frying you won't reach the smoke point on your own home stove-top.

As with the majority of foods, heating will cause some lack of the antioxidants A new Spanish analysis, based on information gathered from over 40000 Spaniards, showed that there was no association between eating fried food and coronary heart disease, but one of the details was that the food was fried in olive oil and was perhaps not consumed, in other words they failed to fry with the same acrylic over and over again.

You Don't Eat Way Too Much Of It

The average ingestion of olive oil in the U.S. is just 1 teaspoon a day. But if you are attempting to find a way to get the benefits of olive oil, that one teaspoon unfortunately won't lower it. Research after study which displays health benefits of olive oil stage to the amount of 2-3 tablespoons a day whether that be:

Heart disease
blood Pressure
Cancer or cognitive function

If you are following a Mediterranean diet plan program that is vegetable centered and with food, you are going to be on your calories even if you eat up this amount of olive oil daily.

Furthermore Olive Oil ought to really be your main source of fat on your diet plan, if you are currently trying to follow a Mediterranean diet program that means that the olive oil used in your salad and cooking are the majority of fat you are getting in your daily diet plan.

You Purchase "Olive Oil"... But Is It Really Olive Oil?

Labeling can be catchy. After you visit about the label "Olive Oil", in the U.S. that means that this is a blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oils. Generally speaking, refined olive oil is a low quality olive oil that is refined physically and chemically to eliminate undesirable qualities such a free fatty acids and unpleasant flavor and odor.

This olive oil does not have the beneficial qualities of extra virgin olive oil (polyphenols) or the taste. We suggest you opt to take to and purchase high quality extra virgin olive oil.

You Prefer Moderate Tasting Olive Oil

Studies have revealed that a variety of people have no idea what fresh olive oil tastes similar to and that in fact they are used to and prefer the taste of rancid olive oil. Olive oil shouldn't taste"buttery", a variety of individuals feel that a buttery taste and an oily feel is what olive oil is about.

That's unfortunately incorrect. Olive Oil should have some resentment for it and fresh olive needs to taste"green", fresh, a little neater, it should maybe not be tasteless or have an"old nuts" taste.