Understanding Olive Oil_Part 5

Olive Oil in Digestive Process

Olive oil can boost cell growth in the stomach that can protect against bowel
cancer.

Research carried out by doctors at Oxford University the Olive oil reacts with acid
in the stomach to prevent the onset of bowel and rectum cancers.

Bowel cancer is the second-most common cancer in the UK and kills nearly 20,000
people every year. However, if it is diagnosed early it is easily treatable.

They suggested that people who ate a lot of meat and fish, as opposed to those
who ate mostly vegetables and cereals, were at increased risk. This is because a
high meat intake can increase the amount of a bile acid called deoxycyclic acid,
which reduced the activity of an enzyme called diamine oxidase (DAO). DAO is
thought to regulate the cell turnover in the bowel lining and reduced levels of this
enzyme could be responsible for abnormal cell turnover.

The Oxford researchers found the olive oil seemed to reduce the amount of bile
acid and to increase DAO levels, thus protecting against abnormal cell growth and
cancer.

Usefulness of Olive Oil in Cardiac ailments

The incidence of coronary disease in Greece is very low. Medical studies indicate
that Mediterranean countries and specifically Greece, where olive oil consumption
is high, suffer less cardiovascular problems from any other country in the world.

Many diseases are caused by the incontrollable receipt of food, especially food
containing in excess saturated fatty acids (animal fats), leading to arteriosclerosis
and cardiovascular diseases.

An exciting new study in the medical journal, Lancet, showed that eating omega-3
unsaturated fats, that are found in Fish, Olive, Rapeseed and Soybean oil helps
prevent heart attacks. The most likely explanation for omega-3 fatty acids
preventing heart attacks is that they prevent clotting and oxidation of LDL
cholesterol.

Olive oil was found to contain no artery-coating cholesterol and to be made up of

55-83 per cent monounsaturated fatty acids, which it is now believed, can reduce
blood cholesterol levels and help protect against heart disease, as well as colon
and breast cancer.

The circulatory system is aided by a diet which includes olive oil - reducing the risk
of arterial sclerosis and other circulatory ailments. The non-saturated fats which

make up olive oil, not only are cholesterol-free, but have actually been shown to
reduce cholesterol levels.

The role of olive oil in the prevention of cardiovascular disease is indeed unique.
Heart disease is in direct proportion to the concentration of cholesterol in the
blood. Olive oil, due to its fatty acid composition, has a beneficial impact on
controlling cholesterol levels. The mono-unsaturated fatty acids present in olive oil
helps reduce bad cholesterol, and therefore lowers the risk of cardiovascular
diseases.

First, olive oil contains no cholesterol. Second, olive oil is made up of between 75
and 82% mono-unsaturated fat. This makes it the highest in mono unsaturated fats
of the commonly available oils. The high content of mono unsaturated fats tends to
lower the amount of "lowdensity lipoproteins" (LDL) in the blood without lowering
the level of "high density lipoproteins" (HDL). As a result the ratio of"good"
cholesterol to "bad" cholesterol (what the doctors consider more important than
the overall level of cholesterol) is improved and the overall risk of heart disease
reduced.

Fatty acids are substances found in fats and oils. Fatty acids can be: Cholesterol,
when it does not exceed certain levels, is vital for the structure of cell walls.
Cholesterol is synthesized in the liver but cannot move about the body by itself. So
special vehicles, called lipoproteins, are provided for this purpose. The two main
types are LDL and HDL. LDL are large trucks that carry cholesterol to the cells.
Roads between cells though are often too small for LDL trucks, so the latter get
stuck and as time goes by they completely clog blood vessels. HDL are smaller
trucks that carry cholesterol away. So the more HDL the easier to unlock roads and
rid the body of unwanted cholesterol. Or to state it another way, what the body
really needs is a good HDL/LDL ratio.

The action of fatty acids: We all know that animal fats, which contain saturated
fatty acids, vertically increase blood cholesterol levels. But here's what happens
with unsaturated fatty acids: Polyunsaturated fatty acids lower both LDL and HDL
levels in the blood, that is they do not really affect their ratio. Monounsaturated
fatty acids on the other hand control LDL levels while raising HDL levels.

No other naturally produced oil has as large an amount of mono-unsaturated as

olive oil -mainly oleic acid. Further, the modest amount of well-balanced
polyunsaturated in olive oil is well protected by antioxidant substances.

It is widely believed that anti-oxidant substances such as vitamins E, K and polyphenols found in olive oil provide a defense mechanism that delays ageing and
prevents carcino-genesis, athero-sclerosis, liver disorders and inflammations.

Olive oil is very high in the antioxidants vitamin A and vitamin E, which neutralize
cancer-causing free radicals in our bodies. It is mono-unsaturated, therefore it
lowers the bad LDL cholesterol without reducing the good HDL cholesterol. This
results in improved circulation, lowered blood pressure and less risk for heart
disease.