Alexis Unlimited

The exotic names of olives:  Moroccan, Kalamata, nicoise, picholine and Manzanilla

—sound almost as good as these varieties of olives taste. But taste is only one of the reasons for you to enjoy them. Olives and olive oil have long been considered part of your heart-healthy or weight loss diet, but a new research shows that these foods may help protect your brain against brain diseases.

Olives are an excellent source

of healthy monounsaturated fats and vitamin E. Monounsaturated fats have a

beneficial role to play in maintaining the outer membranes of your brain cells, protecting your body’s genetic material and your energy-producing cellular components (mitochondria) that help fuel your brain.

Vitamin E offers antioxidant protection

to the fatty components of your brain and can lower your risk of damage and

inflammation. This vitamin is also your body’s primary fat-soluble antioxidant, meaning that it neutralizes damaging free radicals in all the fat-rich areas of your body, including your brain and the protective coating of your nerves. Your brain is more than 60% fat, making vitamin E a significant contributor to your brain health. Like other types of monounsaturated fats, vitamin E also helps protect the energy production centers in your cells to ensure that your cells are capable of creating adequate energy for your many bodily processes and brain functions.

Olives and olive oil also help prevent

your oxidation of cholesterol. Oxidized cholesterol has been linked to stroke. These anti-inflammatory actions of monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and beneficial plant chemicals called polyphenols help lessen your likelihood of inflammation in your brain. Olive oil is also rich in Omega-9 fatty acids that are important for your brain.

And, a recent study published in the Journal of Molecular Biology

even suggests that oleic acid found in olives and olive oil may help you to prevent or halt brain cancer. The study was preliminary so more research needs to be done before we can definitively say that olives and olive oil can help with brain cancer.

Be sure you use only organic olives or

organic, cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil since it retains more beneficial nutrients

and lacks potentially brain-damaging pesticides. When you cook with any type of oil, including olive oil, it’s important to be sure that the oil never smokes. If it does, it has reached the oil’s “smoke point,” which is different for every type of oil. The smoke point is the point at which your oil will smoke and have a damaging effect on your body.

Olive oil has a smoke point around 324 degrees Fahrenheit. Most types of vegetable oils available in grocery stores are heated to over 500 degrees Fahrenheit during processing, which is well beyond their smoke point even before they get to your kitchen. That means they should be completely avoided. Extra-virgin olive oil is the rare exception that tends to be processed at lower temperatures and is therefore fine for cooking at low temperatures.

Remember this when you’re cooking with any type of oil:

if it smokes while you’re heating it, it’s essential that you throw it out and start over. Otherwise, the benefits of the oil are destroyed by the heat and it becomes capable of damaging cells in your brain through free radicals and inflammatory processes. Also, be sure to choose olives that are free from sulfites, as many commercial brands contain these and other chemical preservatives.

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Well, it never ceases to amaze me how much damage we can do to ourselves if we don’t really know what we’re doing. I never knew oil has a “smoke point.”  Do you find this as interesting as I do that we can be damaging ourselves without even being aware of it? I don’t use oil much anymore, nor do I eat many olives. They just aren’t one of my favorite things to eat. How about you? Do you like olives? Did you know they were healthy for you?

Have a great healthy day!