Olive oil can fight pollution damage

Olive oil can fight pollution damage

by Dr. Mark Stengler

The powerful natural detoxifier…hiding in your own kitchen!

Here in sunny San Diego, we don’t see the sun quite as often as we should because of the infamous SoCal smog that visits us from time to time (even if much of it is sent our way from other cities, but let’s not mention any names… right, Los Angeles?)

Even if you live in a smaller or mid-size city, you struggle daily with crowds…traffic…and plenty of pollution.

If you’re not ready to give up your proximity to museums, concert halls, universities, and sports stadiums and move to the countryside, you could learn to live with the risks of pollution.

That’s what many folks do, including myself. I love it here in San Diego, and I’ve got no plans to leave.

If you’re more of a city mouse than a country mouse, there’s a simple step you can take to fight the damage of pollution and cut your risk of the chronic diseases that comes from exposure.

All you have to do is use more olive oil.

Yes, it’s really that simple. New research shows how olive oil can help stop the damage in the arteries caused by particulate matter, a.k.a. pollutants that find their way into your blood stream when you breathe them in.

In the study, volunteers were given olive oil supplements, fish oil supplements or nothing at all for two weeks, and then put in a smoggy lab setting.

Those were some pretty brave volunteers!

When there was no protection in place, pollution exposure aggravated inflammation and did some serious damage – and by no small measure. According to the study in Environmental Health Perspectives, blood flow tests performed on the unprotected volunteers detected a 20 percent loss of brachial artery function.

That’s the bad news, but it’s no surprise. We know environmental pollution is dangerous. So, here’s the really good news: You can protect yourself with that delicious…sometimes sweet…sometimes spicy…OLIVE OIL.

Volunteers who took the olive oil supplements saw NO significant damage or reduction in vascular function, whereas the folks on fish oil saw a 14 percent dip in function. both fish oil and olive oil supplements kept the volunteers’ inflammation levels from rising in the polluted environment.

So while fish oil is good…olive oil is even better. To pack the biggest punch, take a fish oil supplement daily, and include extra-virgin olive oil in your meals. The amount used in the study was just 3 grams, or a little more than half a teaspoon – but you can drizzle it on just about everything you eat. EVOO (make sure it’s the real stuff) is good for your blood sugar, cholesterol, and overall heart health – and has even been known to fight cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Of course, I’ve extolled the virtues of the olive oil-heavy Mediterranean diet for years. And it’s not just the diet’s emphasis on healthy oil that helps you detox – the diet is full of tasty foods that are rich in antioxidants.

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Olive oil can fight pollution damage