Can Your Diet Rich In Extra Virgin Olive Oil Increase Overall Family Health?

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Why Whole Family Can Benefit From Just One Person Following A Mediterranean Diet.

Updated January 26th 2023

Family Health With Mediterranean Diet
Family Health With Mediterranean Diet

SUMMARY

  • Extra virgin olive oil can help improve family health as it holds many health benefits and is a nutritious addition to any meal.
  • Using extra virgin olive oil provides numerous health benefits, improves the taste of meals, and ultimately contributes to a healthier lifestyle for the entire family.
  • Extra virgin olive oil is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet.
  • New research shows that it only takes one person in a household to follow a Mediterranean diet for the whole family to benefit from a ‘halo
  • By sharing your home with someone who combines Mediterranean nutrition with regular exercise, co-habitees can enjoy the same health benefits associated with this lifestyle choice.

CONTENTS

Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Family Health

Extra virgin olive oil can help improve family health as it holds many health benefits and is a nutritious addition to any meal. Not only will it add flavor to recipes, but it can also provide health wellness due to its high levels of antioxidants and oleic acid. For families looking to create lifestyle changes, using extra virgin olive oil can be an excellent place to start. It provides numerous health benefits, improves the taste of meals, and ultimately contributes to a healthier lifestyle for the entire family.

Extra virgin olive oil has been widely studied for its health benefits, making it a valuable resource for health and wellness within the family. Olive oil is rich in essential nutrients such as healthy fats and antioxidants, which work together to improve cardiovascular health, reduce inflammation, and protect cells from damage. From cooking to drizzling over salads, extra virgin olive oil can provide delicious flavor while also assisting families in maintaining a healthful balance of nutrition. With healthful advantages so readily available, it’s no wonder why adding extra virgin olive oil to your family meals is the best way to healthily enhance the taste while enjoying the many health benefits it provides.

The Mediterranean Diet & The “Halo” Effect

New research from Spain claims it only takes one person in a household to follow a Mediterranean diet for the whole family to benefit from a ‘halo effect’.

The study, from Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute suggests that, by sharing your home with someone who combines Mediterranean nutrition with regular exercise, co-habitees can enjoy the same health benefits associated with this lifestyle choice.

Researchers from the Hospital del Mar and other medical research institutes in Spain looked at 114 family members of participants in a study on obesity and the Mediterranean diet. The study participants were instructed to follow a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet with regular one-on-one coaching and group support sessions.  Their family members — including partners, children, parents, and siblings — never received any specific guidance on the diet, or information about weight loss. 

As reported in Insider this month, by the end of the two years, the diet-adjacent family members had also started eating Mediterranean-style meals and lost weight. This suggests that sharing meals with people you love could be a helpful strategy for healthier eating.

The effect was contagious, in this context it was, fortunately, a beneficial ‘contagion’, resulting in weight loss and improved dietary habits,” Dr. Albert Goday, the principal investigator on the project and a researcher at Hospital Del Mar, said.

The Mediterranean diet, rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains and extra virgin olive oil, is already associated with a multitude of health benefits including diabetes prevention, weight loss, improved blood pressure and better mental health.

However, evidence in the Spanish survey found that those living with someone following this diet can enjoy a ‘halo effect’ which can help to prevent obesity associated with ‘strong family clustering’. 

In other words, the positive influence of one family member’s improved eating habits can have a significant ripple effect across the household. Researchers found that family members of dieters ate healthier and lost weight without actively trying.

The presence of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in most Mediterranean diets is believed to contribute to its health benefits.  This is largely due to the phytonutrient composition of olive oil and, in particular, the large amount of polyphenols present in the best extra virgin olive oils such as Morocco Gold.

What kind of olive oil should you choose for the Mediterranean Diet?

Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil - High in Polyphenols
Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil – High in Polyphenols

So, you have decided to bring a touch of the Mediterranean into your kitchen, for the benefit of the whole family.  But what are the crucial ingredients to stock in your larder or pantry?

Top of the list should be a high-quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  If you want to enjoy the health benefits of olive oil we would encourage you to choose the best extra virgin olive oil you can afford.   Unfiltered, unblended pure extra virgin olive oils like Morocco Gold have the highest quantities of health enhancing polyphenols – as well as a taste like no other.  Morocco Gold is a superior quality, single estate Extra Virgin olive oil from an entirely new source. The oil is made from olives grown in the foothills of the Atlas mountains

And it couldn’t be a more exciting time to try your first bottle as our 2021 Harvest is now available for pre-order. We are delighted to report that his year’s harvest has produced a low acidity level of 0.2% together with the highest level of polyphenols yet seen in our extra virgin olive oil. This means a greater concentration of the antioxidants which can circulate in your body and help to reduce a multitude of different health conditions including cancer and heart disease.

Due to minimal processing, Extra Virgin Olive Oil  is the only oil that retains these important natural phenols. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is processed in a manner similar to many fruit juices: the fruit is crushed and the juice is extracted. In contrast, the other grades of olive oil (“pure” and “light”), as well as inexpensive oils such as soybean and canola, go through an industrial refining process that strips away phenols.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a higher phenolic content may have a more robust flavour, including some bitterness, than Extra Virgin Olive Oil with lower phenolic content. Phenolic content diminishes with time, and particularly when exposed to heat, light and oxidation, so your bottle of Morocco Gold should be stored in a cool dark place and used within a couple months of opening a container.

So What Health Benefits Can The Family Expect From Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Reduces Risk Of Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are the top cause of death in the industrialised world. A host of studies have documented that arteriosclerosis is closely linked to eating habits and lifestyle.

The lowest rates of death from coronary heart disease are currently recorded in the countries where olive oil is virtually the only fat consumed.

Professor Francisco Grande Covian

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Has A Beneficial Effect On Ulcers And Gastritis

Olive oil reduces the risk of the flow or reflux of food and gastric juice up from the stomach to the oesophagus, the gastric content of the stomach is released more slowly and gradually into the duodenum, giving a greater sensation of “fullness”.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Maintains The Digestive Tract In Good Health

Olive oil produces a small amount of secretion by the pancreas, making this organ “work” little, but efficiently and enough to carry out all its digestive functions. It stimulates the absorption of various nutrients (calcium, Iron, magnesium, etc.).

Olive oil, therefore, is a fat that is digested and absorbed really well. It has choice properties and a mild laxative effect that helps to combat constipation and bad breath.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Helps To Reduce Blood Pressure

Certain foods can raise blood pressure besides having an effect on body weight. Along with high blood cholesterol, cigarette smoking, obesity and diabetes, it is one of the main health problems of the developed world.

One in every four adults is hypertensive. This increases the risk of early death because of the damage to the body’s arteries, especially the arteries that supply blood to the heart, kidneys, brain and eyes. Addition of olive oil to a diet has a clear lowering effect on blood pressure. Regular consumption of olive oil decreases both systolic (maximum) and diastolic (minimum) blood pressure.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Help Control Healthy Cholesterol Levels

Cholesterol is a fatty substance contained in foods of animal origin. Diets containing a large amount of animal fats raise blood cholesterol level, which is one of the chief risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

Olive oil lowers the levels of total blood cholesterol, LdL-cholesterol and triglycerides. At the same time it does not alter the levels of HbL-cholesterol (and may even raise them), which plays a protective role and prevents the formation of fatty patches and recurrent heart disease.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Eases Or Prevents Diabetes

An Olive Oil rich diet is not only a good alternative in the treatment of diabetes, it may also help to prevent or delay the onset of the disease. How it does so is by preventing insulin resistance lowering triglycerides and ensuring better blood sugar level control and lower blood pressure.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Lessens The Severity Of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a reduction in bone tissue mass that increases the risk of fractures. There are two types. Type I occurs in middle-aged, post-menopausal women and type II in the elderly. Olive oil appears to have a favourable effect on bone calcification, and bone mineralisation is better the more olive oil is consumed. It helps calcium absorption, thereby playing an important part during the period of growth and in the prevention of osteoporosis.

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