YOUR HEALTH: Drops of Jupiter
HOMER called it «liquid gold». In ancient Greece, athletes ritually rubbed it all over their bodies. Its mystical glow illuminates history. Drops of it seeped into the bones of dead saints and martyrs through holes in their tombs.
Olive oil has been more than mere food to the people of the Mediterranean: it has been medicinal, magical, an endless source of fascination and wonder and the fountain of great wealth and power.
The olive tree, symbol of abundance, glory and peace, gave its leafy branches to crown the victorious in friendly games and bloody war, and the oil of its fruit has anointed the noblest of heads throughout history.
Indeed, olive crowns and olive branches, emblems of benediction and purification, were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures: some were even found in King Tutankhamen\’s tomb.
In the land of the Hebrews, King Solomon and King David placed great importance on the cultivation of olive trees. David even had guards watching over the olive groves and warehouses, ensuring the safety of the trees and their precious oil.
Now new research is showing that there is a basis to this «olive madness» of the ages — at least as far as breast cancer is concerned.
A report published online on Dec 18, last year in the journal BioMed Central Cancer revealed the discovery of Spanish researchers of a suppressive effect of compounds found in extra virgin olive oil against breast cancer cells containing the cancer gene HER2.
HER2 is amplified or over expressed in an estimated 20 to 30 per cent of invasive breast cancers. It is associated with a shorter relapse time and reduced survival.
Javier Menendez of the Catalan Institute of Oncology along with Antonio Segura-Carretero from the University of Granada and colleagues tested phenolic fractions of extra-virgin oil in two cultured human breast cancer cell lines, and left some cells untreated as controls.
The team found that fractions containing polyphenols known as lignans and secoiridoids triggered programmed death in cells over expressing HER2 protein.
«Our findings reveal for the first time that all the major complex phenols present in extra-virgin olive oil drastically suppress overexpression of the cancer gene HER2 in human breast cancer cells,» Dr Menendez wrote.
Extra virgin olive oil is produced by pressing olives without the use of heat or chemicals. This retains phytochemicals lost in the refinement process.
When buying olive oil you will want to obtain high quality extra virgin oil. The oil that comes from the first «pressing» of the olive, is extracted without using heat.
It called the «cold press». The less the olive oil is «treated», the closer to its natural state, the better the oil. If the olive oil meets all the criteria, it can be designated as «extra virgin».
Although the authors speculated in their introduction to the article that the intake of significant amounts of olive oil might be responsible in part for the association observed between the consumption of a Mediterranean diet and a reduction in breast cancer risk, they note that, «the active phytochemicals (ie lignans and secoiridoids) exhibited tumoricidal (tumour killing) effects against cultured breast cancer cells at concentrations that are unlikely to be achieved in real life by consuming olive oil».
However, they add that «these findings, together with the fact that that humans have safely been ingesting significant amounts of lignans and secoiridoids as long as they have been consuming olives and extra-virgin oil, strongly suggest that these polyphenols might provide an excellent and safe platform for the design of new anti breast-cancer drugs».
It still makes much sense to take that «extra virgin» olive oil as regularly as you can. It is safe and it really does not cost that much.
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