Olive oil has been used for centuries in the Mediterranean and is integral to many diets. It is a key ingredient in all Mediterranean cuisines, it is used in cooking and as a dressing for meals, and its numerous health benefits (vitamins, polyphenols…) are well-known.
Drinking olive oil is a time-honored practice that offers numerous health benefits. It can help improve heart health, aid digestion, promote weight loss, reduce the risk of cancer, and improve skin health.
The idea of drinking olive oil on its own may seem unappetizing or even unappealing to you. One of the reasons for this may be that you have never tasted real fresh farm olive oil. So let’s agree: when we talk about olive oil, we mean extra virgin olive oil made by farmers. This farmer grew and harvested the olives and squeezed the olive juice out of them within a few hours of harvesting. The farmer made this olive oil without heating the olives or adding hexane (a chemical solvent), unlike the mass-produced oils you find in supermarkets. This is real fresh olive juice — a world apart from the big-brand "olive oils" you see in TV commercials.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the potential health benefits and possible drawbacks of this ancient practice — Is Drinking Olive Oil Good for You?
Health Benefits of Drinking Olive Oil
It Improves Your Heart Health: One of the most well-known benefits of drinking olive oil is its positive impact on heart health. Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats, which can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Drinking olive oil on a regular basis can help improve your overall heart health, and may even help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
It Helps with Digestion: Drinking olive oil can also help with digestion. Olive oil is a natural laxative and can help alleviate constipation and other digestive issues. It can also help improve the overall health of your digestive system by reducing inflammation and promoting the growth of healthy gut bacteria.
It Promotes Weight Loss: Drinking olive oil can also help promote weight loss. The monounsaturated fats in olive oil can help keep you feeling fuller for longer, reducing your overall calorie intake. Additionally, drinking olive oil may help boost your metabolism, helping you burn more calories throughout the day.
It May Reduce the Risk of Cancer: There is some evidence to suggest that drinking olive oil may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. Olive oil contains antioxidants, which can help prevent cell damage and reduce the risk of cancer. Some studies have found that people who consume more olive oil have a lower risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, and other types of cancer.
It Improves Skin Health: Drinking olive oil can also help improve your skin health. Olive oil is rich in vitamins A and E, which can help reduce inflammation and protect your skin from damage. It can also help improve the overall appearance of your skin, making it look smoother and more youthful.
How Much Olive Oil Should You Drink?
While drinking olive oil can offer numerous health benefits, it is important to consume it in moderation. Why? Let’s hear what the public has to say first — it’s always a lot of fun.
There is an opinion that drinking too much olive oil can lead to weight gain and other health issues because olive oil is high in calories. They say it is important to factor this into your overall diet. So please remember that a liter of olive oil a day is a little more than you need.
Also, prudent, cautious, and indecisive people would advise you to talk to your doctor or a nutritionist (a nutritionist is not a doctor, but also wants your money) before starting to drink olive oil. These specialists will help you determine how much olive oil you should consume and how to incorporate it into your overall diet. Yes, life is such a complicated thing. It’s even scary to imagine the countless number of people who died from an incorrectly calculated dose of olive oil, which they drank every day.
Olive oil should not be used as a replacement for other essential nutrients. A balanced diet should include a variety of whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil.
If you are interested in incorporating drinking olive oil into your diet, just do what the people who do it do: simply drink a few tablespoons of olive oil each day. Some people do it in the morning on an empty stomach. They also say that you have to stand on one leg, look east with one eye and north with the other, and repeat a secret magic spell in your head.
Well, let’s try to be a little serious. Olive oil is really healthy, especially when consumed internally. In order for your body to benefit from olive oil, you need to include it in your daily diet. At the same time, your body absolutely does not care when and how exactly you consume it. Moreover (attention!), your body absolutely does not care whether you drink olive oil without anything, cook with olive oil or pour it on a piece of bread previously grated with garlic and tomato. You can also mix olive oil with honey, lemon juice, and sea salt, or mix up some other hellish cocktail to your liking. In any case, you will get the same health benefits, although the taste buds in your mouth will send different signals to your brain each time. Yes, it’s all in your head.
In other words, when all this enters your digestive system, the bacteria do not say: “Ah, this is olive oil! Now we get a unique combination of vitamins and polyphenols to strengthen immunity and fight bad cholesterol! It’s so good that this man drank it on an empty stomach. If he consumed this olive oil with his salad, we wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
Why did people create a whole ritual of drinking olive oil instead of just adding it to food every day? Who knows… But for sure, this isn’t the only weird and stupid thing people do.
So, is drinking olive oil good for you? Of course it is, but only in one case: if you like to drink olive oil. This is worth doing if you really want to enjoy the pure taste of fresh extra virgin olive oil without adding any other food.
Well, what about the daily dose: how much is too much? 2 tablespoons? 6 tablespoons? 29 tablespoons? You know, it doesn’t really matter. Moderation is the key and moderation is good in everything. It is not good if one cannot understand when it is time to stop without outside instructions.
Let’s learn to listen to our body and our brain so they can tell us how much olive oil to drink, or how much ice cream to eat. And yes, how much bullshit to read on the Internet. Unfortunately, it looks like we haven’t yet made much progress on this.
