Food for Life: Olive Oil’s Health Benefits

By ABS Contributor | Published on: August 8, 2013 | Updated on March 25, 2016 Comments (0)

If you are an avid viewer of cooking shows, you know that olive oil is a staple in most top chefs’ creations. Cooking connoisseurs enjoy using this oil because of the unique flavor it brings to food. Most olive oil is made from olives originating from the Mediterranean region. People in this region are revered for their longevity and their luscious hair and skin. This may be because olive oil is a staple in their diets. As more people realize the overall health benefits of olive oil, its use is growing in popularity.

Cholesterol and Heart Health

Despite the drama surrounding the use of fats and oils, these things are an essential part of a balanced eating plan. The key is to choose your fats wisely. Olive oil is one of the healthiest types of fat around. The monounsaturated fat in olive oil has been shown to control LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. This can potentially lower your risk of heart disease.

When you digest your food, free radicals that are naturally produced by the body can damage the cells. Free radicals from environmental factors such as dust, smog, cigarette smoke and pesticides don’t help the process. The antioxidants contained in olive oil can help fight off and repair some of the damage that free radicals can cause.

To get the best heart-healthy results from olive oil, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends eating two tablespoons daily. You can easily get this amount in your diet by following the examples of top chefs and using it in your favorite foods.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Still independent.

Related Stories

A Healthy Plate: Foods That Can Lower Cholesterol

10 Super Foods That May Prevent Alzheimer’s

Stop Food Waste Now