Extra Virgin Olive oil when properly cold pressed and stored is rich in monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that researchers are discovering has excellent health benefits. Its also rich of polyphenols, which are known to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticoagulant actions.
Medical studies shows that including some extra virgin olive oil in your meals may help prevent the formation of blood clots, an occurrence whose likelihood increases after eating, particularly in people with high cholesterol.
In diabetic patients have shown that healthy meals that contained some extra virgin olive oil had better effects on blood sugar even than healthy meals that were low in fat.
Experiments on food-borne pathogens showed also that extra virgin olive oil has a very high level of antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogens.
A 50 gram dose (about 4 tablespoons) of extra-virgin olive oil supplies enough oleocanthal to produce an effect equivalent to that of about 10% of the ibuprofen dose recommended for adult pain relief.
Extra-virgin olive oil, is one of the key reasons for the lower incidence of cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease in the Mediterranean region.