Taking a small sip of this liquid each day could have major health benefits (Image: Getty Images)
Think of all those drinks you’ve been told are essentials for your daily diet, and chances are there’s a lot of them. Some will be based on sound science, others more on little more than aggressive marketing.
The gamut runs from coffee to probiotics, and from fruit juices to green teas and “health shots”. Several among these do indeed boast legitimate health benefits, but lots of what you’re told is good for you comes from promotional hype rather than hard evidence.
One “drink” that might not immediately spring to mind is extra virgin olive oil. Sure, it’s a staple in cooking, salad dressings or as a sumptuous topping over pasta. You can even use it to create a luxurious and healthy chocolate desserts ().
However, the idea of sipping it straight may seem rather foreign. Yet, research indicates that consuming a small measure of olive oil daily could be beneficial, potentially guarding against chronic maladies such as heart disease, dementia, and diabetes, reports . Lets delve into some of this supportive evidence.
Firstly, extra virgin olive oil is a cornerstone of what many hail as the “world’s healthiest” diet: the Mediterranean diet. Scored at 85.1% by a broad spectrum of health and nutrition authorities, it tops the charts, surpassing other diets with ease.
This dietary approach essentially mirrors the eating habits found in Mediterranean nations like Italy, Greece, Spain, and Turkey, focusing on plants and wholesome fats.
Secondly, researchers at the University of Glasgow unveiled intriguing findings from an experiment involving 70 participants. The volunteers were divided into two groups one received extra virgin olive oil, while the other was given ‘normal’ olive oil.
Each participant consumed 20ml of olive oil daily, equivalent to around two dessert spoons. Both groups exhibited a significant reduction in coronary artery disease indicators after just three weeks, with further improvements noted at six weeks.
It’s not necessary to drink olive oil straight as done in the study; it can be seamlessly integrated into your diet through salads, pasta dishes, or used in cooking. And it’s crucial to seek professional advice before making substantial changes to your eating habits. And remember, a balanced and nutritious diet is typically the wisest approach.
That said, the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil are widely documented. Zoe co-founder Professor Tim Spector is an enthusiastic advocate, and biologist-nutritionist Concetta Montagnese from Italy’s National Research Council’s Institute of Food Sciences hails it as a “powerful anti-inflammatory ingredient, which helps fight cardiovascular diseases and diabetes”.
She told House and Garden: “Rich in important monounsaturated fatty acids, including oleic acid, and polyphenols, particularly oleocanthal, it also contains a lot of vitamin E, which is beneficial for the immune system and the skin. Thanks to its antioxidant compounds, it helps cells stay younger. Some studies have also associated high consumption of extra virgin olive oil with cancer prevention.”
Why is olive oil healthy?
High in healthy monounsaturated fats: it reduces inflammation and oxidative stress.
High in anti-oxidants: May help reduce your risk of chronic diseases, particularly heart disease. Anti-oxidants also fight inflammation .
May reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease: A 2024 review found that olive oil may do this by reducing beta-amyloid plaques, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress.
May help guard against type 2 diabetes: A 2019 study found that people with pre-diabetes who took 55ml of oleanolic acid-enriched olive oil each day were 55% less likely to develop diabetes than participants in the control group, .
May guard against cancer: One 2022 analysis suggested that people who consumed the highest amount of olive oil were 31% less likely to develop cancer, possibly due to the antioxidants.
Writing for The Conversation in 2015, Prof Spector said: “In Britain and the US, people consume on average around 1 litre of olive oil per person per year, but isn’t much compared to the Greeks, Italians and Spanish who all consume more 13 litres per person. Olive oil, with its high calories and mixed saturated and unsaturated fats, was once assumed by many doctors to be dreadfully unhealthy. But health surveys of European populations kept finding that southern Europeans lived longer and had less heart disease despite higher fat intakes. It turns out olive oil was the likely reason.”
He added: “If we start educating people to use high-quality extra virgin olive oil early in life and change its stigma as a medicine or punishment, we could make our populations and our gut microbiomes healthier.”
As mentioned above, it’s not necessary for you to literally drink olive oil as in the experiment mentioned above and you can easily incorporate it into your diet in other ways, for example in salads or by adding to pasta or other dishes, or by cooking with it. But lots of evidence shows that having a healthy intake of extra virgin olive oil may have many health benefits. It is important to take expert advice before altering your diet significantly. And, as ever, a