The Olive Oil Bandwagon

A Danish study by researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital, released just before Christmas, reports that using plenty of olive oil could protect against cell damage, and hence against cancer.

For two weeks, 182 healthy men aged between 20 and 60 used measured amounts of olive oil in their food. The participants came from five different European countries.

Researchers measured urine levels of a substance that indicates oxidative damage to cells. Levels of the substance dropped around 13% compared with levels at the beginning of the study.

When the study began, those from southern Europe already had better levels than those from northern Europe—possibly an indicator that the olive oil-rich diet of southern Europe was already affording the men additional protection from DNA damage.

Awareness of healthy versus damaging oils is growing. A report in January one year ago said that during 2005, the British for the first time used more olive oil than any other oil. This is a good sign.

The key to health is becoming conscious of what we put in our mouths, just as we are careful what we put in the gas tank of our automobiles. Without the right fuel, the human body can’t run well any more than a vehicle can.

There’s growing awareness that trans fats are harmful. New York city has actually passed a regulation that will ban trans fats from restaurants beginning July, 2008. Thankfully, more and more of the public are already leaping on this bandwagon and avoiding such fats in the form of fries.

An unfortunate spin-off from studies of the Copenhagen kind, as such studies hit the headlines, is that some will rush out to buy olive oil as if it were a fix, while failing to address the much broader topic of how they care for their health generally.

Much as it’s vital to switch to healthy oils such as olive oil on salads, and raw coconut oil or butter for cooking, we also have to recognize that it takes far more to stay in tiptop condition than merely tweaking a diet. It requires a comprehensive approach.

Enter Ron Garner’s Conscious Health, a book that provides just such an approach.

In Conscious Health, you’ll read why it’s not such a simple matter as avoiding trans fats in particular foods and adding olive oil to your diet. For instance, did you know that many of the oils on the shelves of your grocery store are so compromised by the processing they have undergone, they are actually worthless as foods and even harmful to the body?

You’ll want to consult Conscious Health for a rundown on the kind of oils to buy and the kind to avoid—and how to make beneficial use of the good oils. Don’t be fooled into imagining that simply adding olive oil to your diet will keep you healthy. Our bodies require the vital nutrients from a diet containing adequate quantities of natural, unprocessed food and food products.

After all, southern Europeans, while better off because of their consumption of olive oil, in many cases still aren’t the picture of health.