It turns out that olive oil is extremely good for your heart and for other reasons as well. The key is to use extra virgin olive oil because it is the least processed, according to Mary Flynn, a professor of medicine at Brown University. She based her beliefs on a big study found in the New England Journal of medicine that was conducted in Spain. Also, according to Tom Mueller, olive oil has lots of benefits but when we go shopping we must chose very carefully. It turns out that it all depends on the date of when it was squeezed meaning that the really good olive oil must be fresh to receive all those good benefits. After a few months, the beneficial plant compounds called polyphenols that are good for your heart have degraded and fizzled, no longer causing any effect for our hearts.
Another problem that we have here in the U.S. is that most of the olive oil shipped into this country are not real virgin olive oil. In a study done at the University of California, 69% of imported oil failed to meet a U.S. Department of Agriculture Standard (http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/30/226844915/to-get-the-benefits-of-olive-oil-fresh-may-be-best) This is a huge problem because as citizens we are being fooled into thinking that the olive oil we consume is pure yet this isn't the first time we are tricked.
The solution is to buy extra virgin olive oil that has a date clearly labeled somewhere on the bottle. The fresher it is the better it will be for our hearts. If the olive oil stings the back of your throat a little bit, then the polyphenols are certainly there meaning it is still relatively fresh. Olive oil should be stored for no more than 3-4 months and that is something to keep in mind. The health benefits are no longer there after those few months of storage.
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