Natural Cures Not Medicine: olive oil

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Showing posts with label olive oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olive oil. Show all posts

Is Your Olive Oil Lying About Its Virginity?

by Deane Alban

Image: EatLocalGrown.com
You’d have to live in a cave to not have heard about the health benefits of olive oil. It’s a monounsaturated fat that is a major component of the Mediterranean diet and is believed to be a factor why people in that area of the world are some of the healthiest and long-lived.

Olive oil has been used medicinally for over 5,000 years. Its health benefits are legendary. It has been found to boost the immune system, increase bone density, prevent cancer, strokes, and heart disease, lower blood pressure, and reduce your risk of diabetes.

And if that isn’t enough, it seems that olive oil can improve memory and increase overall cognitive function. A large study on 6,000 women over the age of 65 found that women who consumed the highest amount of monounsaturated fats, which can be found in olive oil, had better patterns of cognitive scores over time.

But now it looks like the olive oil you trusted to provide you with health benefits might be a fake! Is nothing sacred anymore?

My first thoughts were how do you make fake olive oil? Who is doing this? Why are they doing it?

Olive Oil Is Big Business

Working backwards, it’s pretty easy to guess the “why”. There is money to be made in olive oil forgery.

The US alone spends 1.5 billion dollars a year on olive oil. It might not seem worth the effort to make fake oil, but in one Italian bust alone, authorities broke up a criminal gang sitting on $8 million worth of fake oil.

The “who” might be surprising. Throughout Europe there are large scale facilities that pump this stuff out.

According to the book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, illicit manufacturers slap an Italian flag and the name of an imaginary producer on the label and dump this stuff on the US market, where consumers are easy pickings.

But consumers in the US aren’t the only victims. Studies done in Australia and New Zealand found that half of their Mediterranean imports were fake, too. Anywhere olive oil is in demand is a possible target.

How do you fake olive oil? Olive oil can be diluted with poor quality oils or sometimes there is no real olive oil at all. Cheap and unhealthy soy or canola oils are colored with industrial chlorophyll and flavored with artificial flavorings. Yum.

Extra Virgin Oil Frauds

The term “virgin” when applied to olive oil doesn’t mean quality. There are four levels of virgin olive oil. The lowest grade of virgin olive oil is not fit for human consumption and designated for “other” uses, like making soap.

The top of the line olive oil is extra virgin. This means it’s cold-pressed so the temperature during processing hasn’t exceed 86 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also supposed to meet high standards of acidity and taste.

Independent tests at the University of California found that 69% of all store-bought extra virgin olive oils in the US are probably fake. This study reported that the following brands failed to meet extra virgin olive oil standards:

  • Bertolli
  • Carapelli
  • Colavita
  • Filippo Berio
  • Mazzola
  • Mezzetta
  • Newman’s Own
  • Safeway
  • Star
  • Whole Foods

Seeing brands that pride themselves on being healthy and natural like Newman’s Own and Whole Foods is very disappointing. However, it’s very likely that the fault goes back to the supplier.

Apparently, the olive oil mafia has become so adept at their forgeries that even many olive oil “experts” can’t tell real from fake based on taste alone. But in my book, that is still no excuse. Companies are responsible for doing their own due diligence!

Finding the Real Thing
You naturally want to get what you pay for. If you are paying more for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and you care about your health, you don’t want to be buying diluted, adulterated junk.

Not only will fake oil lack health benefits, it could actually do you harm. Six hundred people died and 25,000 more were hospitalized by bad oil in Spain. While that was highly unusual, I think you get the point.

A test you can try on any olive oil you currently have is to stick it in the fridge and see if it solidifies. If it doesn’t, you definitely don’t have olive oil. If it does this means you may have olive oil. Turning solid will tell you that you have a mostly a monounsaturated oil, but it won’t rule out whether it’s sunflower, safflower, or canola oils have been added. It won’t reveal if your olive oil has been tainted with chemicals, flavorings, or colorings either.

The same University of California study listed the following brands as having met their standards for being true extra virgin olive oil.

  • Corto Olive
  • California Olive Ranch
  • Kirkland Organic
  • Lucero (Ascolano)
  • McEvoy Ranch Organic
  • Pompeian

In their September 2012 issue, Consumer Reports published results of their taste test of 138 bottles of extra virgin olive oil from 23 manufacturers. The olive oil was sourced from a variety of countries including the US, Argentina, Greece, Chile, and Italy.

Their general finding was that those produced in California surpassed those from Italy. The two highest scoring olive oils, McEvoy Ranch and Trader Joe’s California Estate, were both from California.

It’s a sad testament to the quality of our food supply when a natural product with a 5,000 year history has been tainted for profit. We can all do our part to stamp out food fraud by voting with our wallets. By buying locally and supporting boutique producers we can send the message that we care about the quality of our food and help to make food fraud less profitable

Surprising olive oil facts and uses


Olive oil can be added to just about any meal or salad and is the staple of a Mediterranean diet.  Did you know that people in Mediterranean regions have lower cancer rates and better heart health?  It seems like olive oil isn't just tasty, but is natural health insurance.

Olive oil is sometimes called liquid gold, and there are many ways to use the oil for life's challenges and to improve your health such as lowering cholesterol.  LDL cholesterol, deposits in the arteries, blocking the blood vessels and heightening the risk of heart disease.  Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat that actually combats the buildup of plaque in the arteries and does not remove health or HDL cholesterol which helps remove the harmful cholesterol from the body.  

Several large studies have also concluded that consumption of olive oil helps to lower blood pressure.  One study concluded that taking the oil reduced the incidence of hypertension in men, while an additional study in the American Journal of Hypertension concluded that polyphenol rich olive oil helps reduce blood pressure in young women with mild hypertension. 

 A study from Greece linked higher intake of olive oil with a lower risk of cancer.  Preferring olive oil to other added lipids, particularly those containing saturated fats, may reduce the risk of developing upper digestive and respiratory tract neoplasms, breast, and possible colorectal and other cancer sites.



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The good fat?

We live in a fast food culture and multiple health problems are being tied to the fats contained in the meals.  Health insurance costs are crushing and quality of life is diminished by chronic illness.  What may surprise you is that many foods that you buy in grocery stores contain these fats too.  Now, what if fat was actually good for you instead?  It is, depending on the type.  Did you know that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are actually good for your heart and have multiple positive health impact for those who consume them on a regular basis.  Maybe it's time to switch to "the good fat."

Here are some sources of healthy fats:
File:Cloudy olive oil1.jpgOlive oil
File:Making vinaigrette.jpgSafflower oil
File:4 gallons of peanut oil.jpgPeanut oil
File:Flax seeds.jpgFlax seed
File:Coconut pong inside.JPGCoconut
File:Avocado.jpegAvocado

So, now that you know where to find healthy fat for your diet, why should you actually make the switch?  Here are a few reasons:

  • Reduce the risk of Alzheimer's
  • Reduce the risk of cancer
  • Help skin look more healthy
  • Lower cholesterol
  • May help manage blood sugar levels
  • Help prevent heart disease
  • Metabolize stored fat
  • Maintain energy levels

For more nutrition info check out thescienceofeating.com

109 Year Old Man Shares His Health Secrets





This man reports his top 5 foods that have kept him alive and not sick a day in his life:

1. Garlic:


2. Olive Oil:


Olive oil is packed with healing potential!


3. Cinnamon:



4. Chocolate:


5. Honey: 

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Olive oil is packed with healing potential!

The "good fat."

Here some amazing effects olive oil has on the body!


  • Anti cancer:  It is believed that olive oil lowers the risk of prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer.  Extra virgin olive oil also triggers apoptosis, or triggered cell death, in cancer cells.  In regions of Mediterranean Europe where olive oil is used most, cancer rates are significantly lower. 
  • Heart health:  Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat which is known as "good fat" and is heart healthy.  Phytochemicals in olive oil lower cholesterol as well further protecting against heart disease.
  • Diabetes:  Monounsaturated fats in olive oil help manage cholesterol.  This beneficial fat found in olive oil helps to manage triglyceride levels, increases healthy HDL cholesterol levels, and reduces bad  or LDL cholesterol.  Some evidence also suggests that monounsaturated fat plays a role in stabilizing blood glucose levels.
  • Inflammation:  An article published in 2005 by researchers from Philadelphia identified a compound in olive oil called oleocanthal has an anti inflammatory effect.  Their studies concluded that the compound acts like ibuprofen or other anti inflammatory medications.
  • Weight management:  The simple fact that olive oil contains monounsaturated fats makes it beneficial to the body in different ways.  Try switching from saturated fats to monounsaturated fats and it will aid in losing excess weight.  Successfully managing your weight and saving on health insurance go hand in hand.
Legend has it that the olive tree was a gift from Athena, the wise warrior goddess who recognized the power of peace.  Athena competed with Poseidon for the affections of the Greeks and offered the versatile olive as a gift in response to the sea god's offering of a saltwater well.  The stories are almost as epic as the true healing potential of olive oil.  Luckily, olive oil is delicious and can be included in many  recipes.  Switch out the unhealthy fats for this wonder oil.




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