The great Greek poet Homer called it "liquid gold", while Ancient Greek physician and father of Western Medicine Hippocrates called it the "great healer".
Olive oil contains many health and beauty benefits. Apart from being an exceedingly healthy alternative to saturated oil for cooking, it is also a natural skin moisturizer, repairs damaged hair, reportedly effective for clearing acne, amongst many others.
Do you know that this wondrous oil has also proven to reduce the likelihood of skin cancer? In the Mediterranean countries like Greece, only three in every 100,000 people develop skin cancer, this despite the fact that these countries are also famous for their sunny beaches. Mediterranean diets are renowned for containing fresh produce rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants help the body to build up resistance against the ultra violet radiation in the sun’s rays. Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed raw, which means that it retains all its nutrients and vitamins. It contains mono-unsaturated fatty acids which are high in antioxidants.
A short term study conducted by Japanese researchers on mice back in 2000 also suggested that high quality olive oil may reduce the risk of skin cancer. In the experiment, bald mice were exposed to a sunlamp, and olive oil was applied to the skins of some, better quality oil for another group, and no oil for the placebo. The placebo group developed tumour the earliest, while those who had the protection of olive oil developed tumours later than projected. Other specific studies suggest olive oil might have a hand in reducing breast cancer and bowel cancer.
As many studies require more indepth research, and have not been performed on humans for obvious reasons, that is not to say that olive oil should completely replace professionally manufactured sun block meant for protecting the skin against the sun. It does however show that there is some basis to the preventive qualities of olive oil. If you do not apply sunblock indoors, consider applying extra virgin oil to soothe your skin from any mild UV rays indoors. If anything, it doubles as a non-chemical moisturiser, and is a popular home remedy for acne.
However, make sure you use fresh olive oil that has not expired, and it has to be extra virgin oil, not any old inpure olive oil; these might have little effect or worst, damage your skin. In addition, olive oil loses its health benefits when cooked, so it is best consumed raw, such as as a salad dressing.
The days are getting hotter and sunnier in Singapore. One more good reason to include more olive oil in your diet in place of other fattier, oily foods like butter and animal oil!
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