Olive oil is a natural oil extracted from olives (Olea europaea), which grow in the Mediterranean region.
This oil is known for its high nutritional content, including monounsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamin E, and vitamin K, making it highly beneficial for health.
One of the olive oil benefits is that it can help lower cholesterol levels.
Yes, olive oil is somewhat different from other oils because it contains antioxidants that help reduce cholesterol levels.
Besides helping lower cholesterol, there are other important olive oil benefits that you should know.
Let’s read this article to the end to get complete information about the olive oil benefits!
Olive Oil Benefits for Health
Olive oil benefits for health are varied, ranging from maintaining blood pressure to lowering cholesterol, controlling body weight, and more.
For more detailed information, you can read the following explanation:
1. Maintaining Blood Pressure
The first health benefit of olive oil is its role in maintaining blood pressure.
This is because olive oil contains fatty acids and antioxidants that can help relax blood vessels.
Additionally, its antioxidant content can also reduce the risk of inflammation in the blood vessels.
2. Lowering Cholesterol
The second benefit of olive oil is that it can lower cholesterol. The antioxidants in olive oil can also help reduce the levels of bad cholesterol or LDL in the body.
The content of monounsaturated fatty acids (in this case, oleic acid) in olive oil has been found to help maintain beneficial good cholesterol levels for the body.
3. Maintaining Heart Health
The next benefit of olive oil is its role in maintaining heart health. As mentioned earlier, olive oil is considered able to regulate cholesterol levels in the body. This helps protect heart health as well.
In addition, the polyphenol content in olive oil can also reduce the risk of various heart diseases, one of which is a heart attack.
However, you also need to balance this with a healthy lifestyle to maintain heart health.
You can regularly do exercises that are good for the heart, such as aerobics, swimming, morning runs, and so on.
4. Controlling Body Weight
The antioxidants in olive oil once again prove to be a component that has health benefits.
Yes, the antioxidants in olive oil are known to help the body process fats.
Thus, excess body weight due to fat accumulation can be managed.
For this reason, olive oil is often used as an alternative oil for healthy diet dishes.
It should be noted that consuming olive oil is not the only way to control body weight.
Just like maintaining heart health, it is important to adopt other healthy lifestyle habits to manage body weight.
5. Controlling Blood Sugar
The next benefit of olive oil is that it can help control blood sugar.
Olive oil contains polyphenols that are known to aid the digestion of carbohydrates, which are then broken down into sugar by the body.
In addition, its unsaturated fatty acids can also help lower blood sugar found in red blood cells.
6. Maintaining Digestive Health
Maintaining digestive health is another benefit of olive oil.
Antibacterial compounds are known to be present in olive oil, specifically hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein.
Both of these compounds can fight the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers.
Besides fighting harmful bacteria, hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein can also maintain the balance of good bacteria in the gut.
That way, the risk of developing intestinal inflammation can be minimized.
7. Maintaining Bone Health
Olive oil is known to be rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help maintain bone mineral density.
Besides omega-3, hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein in olive oil can protect the mineral structure of bones, making them stronger and more stable.
8. Reducing Risk of Cancer
Reducing the risk of cancer is another benefit of olive oil.
This is due to olive oil's high antioxidant content.
These antioxidants can combat the effects of excessive free radicals, which are one of the factors that contribute to the growth of cancer cells in the body.
9. Maintaining Skin Moisture
The next health benefit of olive oil is that it can help maintain skin moisture.
As it belongs to the lipid group, olive oil can lock in moisture, helping to treat dry skin.
The vitamin E content in olive oil is also beneficial for maintaining skin health.
10. Reducing the Risk of Liver Disease
Because it contains unsaturated fatty acids, olive oil is also beneficial for reducing the risk of various liver diseases.
Some of these liver diseases include fatty liver, liver swelling, and others.
11. Preventing Pancreatic Inflammation
Preventing pancreatic inflammation is another benefit of olive oil.
Phenolic compounds, namely hydroxytyrosol, are found as one of the components in olive oil.
These compounds help reduce various types of inflammation in body organs, including the pancreas.
12. Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer’s
Olive oil is a plant-based food ingredient that contains omega-3.
This omega-3 content is known to be good for maintaining brain function, such as improving concentration, memory, and so on.
Therefore, the olive oil benefits can also be felt in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s or the decline of brain function and memory.
13. Helps Overcome Bad Breath
The last olive oil benefit is that it can help to overcome bad breath.
Olive oil contains many anti-inflammatory and antibacterial compounds. Therefore, olive oil can tackle the bacteria that cause bad breath.
You can rinse with 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil regularly every morning before brushing your teeth.
Contents of Olive Oil
With so many benefits, olive oil contains many nutrients that are good for the body.
Thus, olive oil is one of the plant-based products that contains a lot of nutrients.
In 100 grams of raw olive oil, the following nutrients are contained:
- Energy: 884 calories.
- Fat: 100 grams.
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin): 5 milligrams.
- Vitamin E: 14.4 milligrams.
- Vitamin K: 60 milligrams.
- Calcium (Ca): 14 milligrams.
- Iron (Fe): 1.2 milligrams.
- Sodium (Na): 7 milligrams.
It should be noted that the fat in olive oil consists of two types, namely saturated fat and unsaturated fat.
However, olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat, which is considered a good fat.
The monounsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid. About 98 percent of olive oil contains oleic acid, which is a type of fatty acid commonly found in plants.
Oleic acid is known to have the effect of reducing bad fats.
Olive Oil Benefits for the Face
Based on its content, in addition to having many benefits for overall health, olive oil is also known for its benefits in facial care. Due to its nutritional content, olive oil is useful for maintaining facial health and skin beauty.
Some benefits of olive oil for the face are reducing skin inflammation, smoothing the skin, preventing premature aging, serving as a facial moisturizer, and it can also be used to remove makeup.
How to Store Olive Oil
Once you have opened the olive oil you purchased, make sure to use it within 1–2 months. This is to prevent the oil from becoming rancid.
Store the oil in a dry, cool place, away from direct sunlight. Olive oil should ideally be stored at an optimal temperature of 13 degrees Celsius. However, a temperature of 20–25 degrees Celsius is still considered acceptable for storing this oil.
That concludes the overview of the olive oil benefits that you can learn about.
If you want to gain its benefits, you can use olive oil as an ingredient in your daily cooking.
Besides using olive oil, you should also use quality-maintained mineral water to prepare meals for your family at home.
Well, you can choose an AQUA gallon for that need.
AQUA gallon is mineral water that has been packaged using advanced technology, featuring a double injection cap to ensure its safety.
There is no need to worry about its contents, as AQUA gallon mineral water is sourced from selected volcanic rock and undergoes a careful filtration process.
It contains plenty of water, with 19 liters of mineral water in one package, making AQUA gallon suitable as drinking water for families at home.
The 19-liter AQUA gallon is also affordable, and you can get it for around IDR 1,000 per liter at supermarkets or nearby stores.
Therefore, always have #AQUADULU on hand to complete your cooking ingredients!
