Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Olive Oil: What are the Benefits?

Posted by Cecile at Tuesday, October 28, 2008
While I was reading something from Mayo Clinic.com, I came across this one about Olive Oil and thought of sharing it with you all. I use Olive Oil a lot when cooking and making salad dressing; it is healthier and good for my family's ealth. Here it is...

What are the health benefits of olive oil? Is extra-virgin oil better than regular olive oil?
Mayo Clinic dietitian
Katherine R.D., L.D., and colleagues answer select questions from readers.

Answer
When cooking with fats, olive oil is a healthy choice. Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat, which can lower your risk of heart disease by reducing the total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels in your blood.
In contrast, saturated and trans fats — such as butter, tropical oils and hydrogenated margarines — increase your risk of heart disease by increasing your total and LDL cholesterol levels.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), consuming about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil a day may reduce your risk of heart disease. You can get the most benefit by substituting olive oil for saturated fats rather than just adding more olive oil to your diet. All types of olive oil provide monounsaturated fat, but "extra-virgin" or "virgin" olive oils are the least processed forms. As a result, they contain the highest levels of polyphenols, a powerful antioxidant.

2 comments:

richard said...

thanks for this info...I will try using Olive more often, but you know here in the Philippines olive oil is too expensive....but I will still try ask my mom use olive oil instead of a regular cooking oil....

Cecile said...

yeah, i know :-)last year when we went on vacaton there, i bought my mother a bottle of olive oil and told her to use it because it is healthier, but she didn't want to use it often because it is very expensive...too bad :-(

 

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