Olive Oil – Healthy Life

The consumption of fats is essential for our particular bodies as they give us the energy to carry out our every day activities. Within fats, the foremost healthy will be the monosaturated fats, namely, those that are predominant in virgin olive oil.

98 % of virgin olive oil consists of triglycerides (composed of glycerol and fatty acids). The additional virgin olive oil contains unsaturated fatty acids (Hamitic, stearic and mysteric), monounsaturated (oleic and palmitic) and polyunsaturated (linoleic and linolenic). Of those essential fatty acids, the most rich in the extra virgin olive oil is oleic acid. This element possesses hugely beneficial properties for your human body, especially within the cardiovascular field as well as for the liver. As can be found in the table below, oleic acid is present in typically 75 % of your total content of virgin olive oil; a better figure than within the rest of the oils.

In addition to the triglycerides, virgin olive oil has other components that, even though it possesses them in smaller quantities, they're no less important. Just one are the polyphenols that work as antioxidants on the body, sterols, and tocopherols, and most importantly vitamin E.

Extra virgin olive oil in addition to containing vitamin E, contains other vitamins. Just one are vitamin A which contributes to the maintenance of the skeletal and soft tissue, good eyesight, skin as well as the prevention of infections. Virgin olive oil also contains vitamin D that regulates the absorption of calcium for the bones and vitamin K that helps together with the coagulation of the blood and generates red blood cells.

The majority of components give extra virgin olive oil characteristics that make it unique. The so-called "gold" was an element much appreciated from the ancient inhabitants of the Mediterranean who, through observations and experiments, discovered the biological properties of the substance. In the last few years numerous studies have shown the beneficial effects of virgin olive oil on the human body helping within the prevention of numerous diseases and ailments.

Benefits for oxidative processes

Due to its high antioxidant component through vitamin E and polyphenols, its richness in monounsaturated fats and your micronutrients, consumption of extra virgin olive oil prevents cellular oxidation thereby helping to stay away from diseases or even premature aging. It was confirmed at the Conference on Olive Oil and Health held in Córdoba and Jaén in 2008.

Benefits for obesity and diabetes patients

Obesity is known as a disease that a growing number of people suffer from due to the physically inactive lifestyles which are practiced today. Thanks to studies conducted by numerous institutions , amongst them the site of Endocrinology and Nutrition of Carlos Haya Hospital in Malaga city, its been shown that virgin olive oil is likewise capable of regulating the metabolism and maintaining fat.

The consumption of extra virgin olive oil decreases the degrees of obesity. This can be due, especially, to its high content of oleic acid. Virgin olive oil decreases the inflammatory response, the foundation of the disease, and improves postprandial hyperlipidemia, ie. excess fat in the blood after consuming food.

To finish this list of the many benefits of extra virgin olive oil, it can be said that their intake is also beneficial for diabetes patients. Consumption of olive oil reduces blood sugar, ie, the measure of blood glucose concentration, thereby reducing insulin resistance of patients and reducing the daily dose needed.