4 Healthy Reasons You Need To Drink This Surprising Ingredient Daily, According To Research
Most people never think of drinking a shot from this bottle.
Ksenia Chernaya | Pexels Take a look around your kitchen and try to spot the things you would consider drinking a straight shot of, and no, we are not advising anyone to consume alcohol.
Chances are you have a bottle of olive oil reserved for cooking, but drinking this kitchen staple can provide you with the more healthy benefits of this antioxidant-rich wonder — if not more. From a happier digestive system to batting cancer, you should start and end every day with a tablespoon of olive oil.
Here are the four healthy, research-backed reasons to have olive oil daily:
1. Olive oil helps fight breast cancer
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that women who followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil had a relatively lower risk of breast cancer than those women who followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts or a diet that was lower in fat.
If the Mediterranean diet is new to you, start with knowing which foods to eat when adopting it into your lifestyle, as shown by research in Nutrients Journal. Besides protecting against breast cancer, the diet has also been shown to slow the aging process and reduce the risk of stroke.
2. Olive oil reduces the risk of heart disease
Olga Kri via Shutterstock
While it may seem counterintuitive that drinking olive oil can help protect the heart from disease, multiple studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine confirm the claim to be true thanks to the MUFAs, or monounsaturated fats, olive oil contains. A study in the Journal Of The American College Of Cardiology supported consuming olive oil daily to protect the heart.
Just a note olive oil should replace saturated fats in your diet rather than add to your current calorie intake.
3. Olive oil encourages weight loss
The same good fats that protect the heart from disease can also aid you in achieving any weight-loss goals you may have. Not only have MUFAs in olive oil been shown to help the body feel full, but they also decrease lipotoxicity to benefit weight loss, as suggested by research in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Add olive oil to your list of flat-belly foods you should be eating.
Psychologist Judith Tutin asserted a warning around weight loss advice, "Much like the diet pills involved in the fen-phen scandal back in the 1990s, any magical quick fix, be it vegetable, mineral or other, should fail to pass the common sense test. Seek moderation. Any diet that has no protein, only protein, no carbs, no fats, only carrots, or anything else that is extreme and immoderate is highly questionable. Check with a physician or nutritionist before embarking on an all-or-nothing plan, or ask yourself if it passes moderation muster."
4. Olive oil helps with digestion
While there isn't a lot in the way of scientific research — just a few smaller studies in the Journal of Renal Nutrition— olive oil is widely (and successfully) used as a homeopathic remedy to help the digestive system and ease symptoms of constipation. Acting as a lubricant of sorts, drinking olive oil is said to help things move along better in the colon.
Michele Foley is a former content director for POPSUGAR, a gummi connoisseur, cocktail enthusiast, and outdoor adventurer.