Olive oil not only offers a great taste to a variety of dishes including pasta, chicken, and even salads, but it also has many health benefits and is a great substitute for high fat and sodium content items such as butter or oils made from animal fat. Here are just a few of the health benefits that you can get from adding olive oil to your diet.

• Olive oil is rich in anti-oxidants which helps to fight free radicals.  This is, of course, important because free radicals in the body can cause a variety of cancers and negatively impact your general over all health.
• Olive oil is a natural way to lower your levels of bad cholesterol while raising the levels of the good cholesterol in your body there by promoting a healthier heart while fighting heart disease.
• Olive oil is tolerated well by patients suffering from stomach problems such as ulcers and can actually stimulate positive gastric functions and as a result it helps to prevent the formation of painful gallstones.
• Studies have shown that olive oil can be useful in the prevention of colon cancers with results that are only slightly less than the results obtained with fish oil.
• Olive oil contains high levels of vitamin E which is a key factor in fighting the aging process.
• Olive oil has also been linked with the leveling and regulation of your metabolism which can help you to regulate your body weight and improve general well being.
• There has also been some research to suggest that a diet that is low calorie but still high in healthy fats and oils such as olive oil can be beneficial for those with diabetes and can assist in the prevention of the disease.

Important Things to Consider:

• When you use olive oil from the first pressing of the olives you get Extra virgin olive oil which is the best, healthiest form of olive oil that you can get. The second pressing of the olives, which is also an excellent choice for olive oil that is packed with the healthy benefits is called virgin olive oil. Either virgin or extra virgin are preferred for full health benefits of olive oil.
• It does not take a large quantity of olive oil to be helpful, in fact some studies have shown that merely consuming 2 tablespoons per day is enough to help reduce bad cholesterol. This can easily be done by using the olive oil in pasta dishes or using it as part of your salad dressing, or in several other great recipes using olive oil.
• It is important to realize that merely adding olive oil to your diet will not deliver the maximum of health benefits. Olive oil should be added and should replace unhealthy items such as butter, animal fats, and partially hydrogenated oils so that you are taking out the bad fats and adding the healthier olive oil for a better diet.
• Because there are so many great ways to simply substitute olive oil in most recipes that call for butter or other oils you do not have to make drastic changes to your lifestyle in order to incorporate this healthier alternative.