Important Health Benefits Of Olive Oil! Including Losing Weight

Some of the health benefits of olive oil have been known for thousands of years. Besides being used in meal preparation, it was also used to soothe and help heal wounds, and applied to the hands and face to produce that lovely soft skin. In recent years, researchers have discovered even more benefits such as lowering blood pressure and possible heart attachs or strokes, as well as reduce some forms of cancer or tumors. It can even be used for losing weight.

To get the most health benefits of olive oil you should know which kind to buy. look for the dark green bottle with the label that says "extra virgin cold pressed". It should not be on the top shelve, but farther down so its not in the bright light. You will find that there are several kinds on the shelve and that's why its important which one you buy. Olive oil can be cold pressed which is the first pressing. For the second pressing they may use either heat and some chemicals to squeeze out more oil and label it "pure olive oil", and for the third pressing they use chemicals to extract even more. The last oil is usually lighter in color and is labed "light". Most of the olive oil we see on the shelves in North American grocery stores comes from countries around the Mediteranean Sea such as Italy, Spain, Greece and others in the middle east.

The olive oil we buy is basically a fat, one of several kinds. They are needed to help the digestive system absorb the nutrients in the food we eat so they can get to the cells, nerves. It is a monosaturated fat and includes antioxidents and a compound called oleuropin that keeps the LDL (bad) cholesteral from sticking to the artery walls in form of plaque, known as hardening of the arteries that can cause high blood pressure, heart attachs or strokes. Other sources of these fats are nuts, avocado and canola. Polyunsaturated fats come from some fish such as salmon. Saturated fats are found mostly in animal, dairy, eggs and some seafood, as well as coconut and palm oil. These oils tend to raise the cholesteral (bad LDL) level in the blood. Another kind of fat is called transfat which is hydrogenated oil and added to packaged foods to give a longer shelve life. The saturated fats take longer to digest and some of them may end up as fat stores on your abdomen or thighs. Many packaged food manufacturers have been advised to stop using transfats altogether. You should check the labels.

The real health benefit of olive oil comes from the fact that it is more readily digested than other oils, particularly if it is cold pressed and unheated. Adding olive oil to raw salad greens can be a delicious addition to any meal. Losing weight can come from adequate exercise and workouts along with reducing the eating of saturated fats and increasing the consumuption of monosaturated fats. Imagine the money saved by paying fewer medical bills.

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