Olijfolie voor uw gezondheid.*
Olijfolie is volgens de bekende Mayo kliniek een van de gezondste oliën om in te koken.
Olijfolie bevat veel enkelvoudig onverzadigde vetten (omega-9 vetzuren) die o.m. goed zijn voor een lager cholesterol. Voorwaarde is wel dat men virgin of beter nog extra virgin olijfolie gebruikt deze bevatten wel vijf keer meer antioxidanten dan geraffineerde olijfoliën. Gebruik de olijfolie zo vers mogelijk en bewaar de olijfolie op een donkere plaats. Uit een
kleine Spaanse studie¹ blijkt bovendien dat alleen virgin een extra virgin olijfolie ook nog eens goed zijn in het voorkomen van bloedstolsels bij mensen met hoog cholesterol.
Olive Oil -- Reaping Its Health Benefits
Among cooking oils, olive oil is touted as one of the healthiest. Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat, which can lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol in the blood.
Choosing olive oil is a bit like choosing wine. There are different grades, and some are more flavorful and offer more health benefits. The August issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource offers tips on choosing an olive oil.
Virgin, extra-virgin or refined: Virgin and extra-virgin olive oils tend to be higher in polyphenols (a powerful antioxidant) than are the more-processed, refined olive oils. Antioxidants are considered beneficial because they help the body rid itself of unstable molecules called free radicals and minimize harmful cellular inflammation. A recent study comparing virgin olive oil, refined olive oil and the combination of both found that virgin olive oil appears to have greater heart-health benefits.
Freshness: The fresher the oil, the greater the antioxidant properties. Quality olive oils generally include a packaging date. At purchase, it should be no more than one year old.
Price/flavor: Olive oils run the gamut in prices. Shoppers could opt for lower cost, less flavorful virgin olive oil for cooking and invest in the pricier and more flavorful virgin or extra-virgin oils for use in vinaigrettes or drizzling over salads or side dishes.
Storage: Olive oils have a shelf life of about one to two years. Storage in a cool dark place is best.
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¹Virgin olive oil may help keep blood clot-free
Eating foods prepared with olive oils that are rich in phenols, substances though to have beneficial effects on the heart, may help ward off harmful blood clots in people with high cholesterol, Spanish researchers report.
"Our findings provide new evidence of the healthy effects of virgin olive oil," Dr. Francisco Perez-Jimenez of Reina Sofia University Hospital in Cordoba and colleagues conclude.
In the early stages of atherosclerosis, the balance between clot-promoting and clot-dissolving factors in the blood vessels shifts in favor of clot formation and having high levels of fat in the blood can worsen this imbalance, Perez-Jimenez and his team explain the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Olive oil contains phenols, which have been shown to fight clotting in lab tests, but few studies of their effects have been performed in humans, the researchers note.
To investigate, the researchers had 21 people with high cholesterol eat two different breakfasts. For one week, they consumed either white bread with virgin olive oil containing 400 parts per million phenols, or white bread with olive oil from which much of the phenols had been extracted, leaving it with 80 parts per million. Study participants were then switched to the opposite meal.
Two hours after the high-phenol meal, study participants' concentrations of factor VII antigen, which promotes blood clotting, were lower compared with the low-phenol group. The high-phenol group also experienced a greater drop in the activity of another clot promoter, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.
The researchers suggest that previous studies that have yielded inconsistent results regarding olive oil's effect on the blood may have been due to variations in phenol content.
"Although this study deals with the microcomponents of virgin olive oil, we should still think in terms of evaluating the biological properties of complete foods," the researches add.
With this in mind, they conclude that the current study supports the heart health benefits of virgin olive oil.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (Augustus 2007)
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