Is Your Olive Oil As Healthy As You Think? Very informative.
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The expensive olive oil in your kitchen cabinet is likely not as fresh, nutritious or high in quality as you assume it might be. Does that mean you won't receive the expected health benefits when using olive oil purchased from America's grocery shelves? Possibly.
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"The health benefits of olive oil are 99 percent related to the presence of the phenolic compounds, not the oil itself," said Nasir Malik, research plant physiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Agricultural Research Service.
Malik is referring to the polyphenols in olive oil, nutrients also found in wine, tea, cocoa and many fruits and vegetables that have been discovered over the past decade to be the substances responsible for the bulk of olive oil's health benefits, without which "you might as well use canola oil," Malik said.
And when tested, polyphenols were surprisingly low in most commercially available olive oils, according to a recently published study conducted by the Agricultural Research Service, co-authored by Malik.
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Studies show that as days, weeks and months go by after harvest, the polyphenol content and health benefits of the oil diminish.
"Think of olive oil as olive juice with a maximum two-year shelf life," said Selina Wang, research director at the UC-Davis Olive Center.
Several factors are responsible for the polyphenol content of olive oil, according to the experts:
Read more at:
http://www.livescience.com/37998-olive-oil-health-benefits.html
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And chocolate.
