Olive oil is es­sen­tial­ly a fruit ob­tained from the fruit of the olive tree. This tree is na­tive to the Mediter­ranean re­gion where it is wide­ly used for cook­ing. Olive oil is al­so used in cos­met­ics, med­i­cine and soaps, and while it orig­i­nat­ed in the Mediter­ranean, it is now a sta­ple in homes world­wide.

Olive oil has an ex­cel­lent nu­tri­tion­al pro­file. It’s rich in an­tiox­i­dants, vi­t­a­mins K and E. It has mono-sat­u­rat­ed fats like ole­ic acid and palmi­tole­ic acid.

Be­fore get­ting in­to the ben­e­fits, let’s look at the dif­fer­ent types of olive oil that you can find:

Vir­gin Olive Oil- used for cook­ing with low­er acid con­tent

Ex­tra Vir­gin Olive Oil- this is made by cold press­ing the olive fruit

Pure Olive Oil- has a high­er acid con­tent

Lam­pante Oil - this is used as fu­el and is not rec­om­mend­ed for cook­ing

Here are a few health ben­e­fits that you can ex­pect:

Low­ers cho­les­terol lev­els

Weight loss

Pre­vents in­flam­ma­tion

Im­proves di­ges­tion

De­lays age­ing

Pre­vents gall­stones

Re­duce risk of can­cer

Low­ers hy­per­ten­sion

The down­side

While stud­ies show the nu­mer­ous ben­e­fits, it is im­por­tant to take note that every­thing has a down­side. Be­fore us­ing olive oil or any su­per­food as your go-to rem­e­dy to all things health re­lat­ed, con­sult with your doc­tor to un­der­stand what di­etary needs or changes need to be made for your spe­cif­ic ail­ment.