The Benefits of Olive Oil

Olive oil is the oily fat from the fruit of the olive tree, Oliva Europea, found originally in the Mediterranean – the location itself tells you olive oil must hold beauty and good-health secrets. As our lifestyle, careers and the eternal search for endless youth in both our looks and our health continues to move at the speed of light, our attention turns once again to something found already perfected by nature. Olive oil works from the outside in and the inside out to heal, restore and protect our skin, hair, nails and heart. 

 While it goes through rigorous purifying processes to become useful as the fluid base for cosmetics,shampoos and moisturizers, companies dedicated to your good health are keeping olive oil in its purest form by not adding synthetics to their products. The result is better health for you inside and out. Cosmetics with an olive oil base nurture your skin by maintaining a moisture balance that both soothes dry skin and absorbs easily to nourish deep beneath the surface. This therapeutic quality is especially important to those who suffer with skin rashes, eczema, psoriasis and allergies. Products with natural essential oil bases, like olive oil, may be a little expensive but the long term benefits are well worth the price. 

Olive oil soaps and shampoos that are rich in pure, extra virgin olive oil can contain the moisture and nutrients your skin and hair desires. Stress, dietary choices, environmental pollutants, medications and exposure to ultra-violet rays all take a toll on the health of your skin and hair. Olive oil replaces the moisture and elasticity lost to these elements because it is naturally rich in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants that have tremendous healing and preserving properties. Olive oil can help restore and retain hair and skin`s health, youthfulness and beauty. Dandruff sufferers find products containing high concentrations of olive oil to be very effective. The purer the olive oil, the more favorable the results. Olive oil helps reduce the buildup from largely synthetic hair care products and environmental contaminants that leave your hair feeling brittle and dull. Olive oil shampoos, conditioners and hot oil treatments deeply condition and moisturize hair from strand to scalp, returning natural strength, luster and overall health to your tortured tresses without weighing it down. 

When taken by mouth olive oil helps prevent wrinkles, thin skin and other signs of aging, it can also help increase skin density and help the skin heal from damage. Olive oil applied on the skin may protect the skin from external irritation. Olive oil helps to slow down the aging process of the whole body.

 

Olive oil can be used for disease prevention, or as a contributing agent to cure diseases. Two tablespoons a day is often the recommended dose. Recent studies suggest that olive oil contributes to the prevention or cure of several diseases. Olive oil contains mono-unsaturated fatty acids. This type of fat helps prevent atherosclerosis and thereby helps prevent coronary heart disease.  

 

Olive oil also has anti-inflammatory properties. People suffering from rheumatism, will generally see improvements in their condition when the include olive oil in their diet. This anti-inflammatory benefit also makes intestinal content softer and smoother which aids in digestion, constipation and intestinal pain, and can contribute to prevention of cancer. Olive oil should be combined with fish oil or fat fish to optimize the anti-inflammatory effect. Olive oil contains omega 9 poly-unsaturated acids, while fish oil contains omega 3 poly-unsaturated acids. Both of these seem to reduce inflammation.

 

And an additional note: many body-builders and athletes also claim that olive oil contributes to muscle development. 

 

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