Extra-virgin olive oil may help prevent cancer

Could olive oil have a future as a cancer-fighter?

As I mentioned in the e-Alert “Liquid Gold” (11/16/05), extra-virgin olive oil contains high levels of antioxidant-rich phenols, which may help prevent cancer. That’s the theory that a team of researchers from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland put to the test in a laboratory study reported in the International Journal of Cancer.

The Ulster team incubated a colon cancer cell line with increasing concentrations of virgin olive oil phenols for 24 hours. They found that the olive oil protected the cells from DNA damage.

Lead researcher Chris Gill, M.D., told NutraIngredients that when another cell line was given a similar test for 48 hours it appeared that the phenols exerted an “anti-promoter effect” significantly reducing the invasiveness of the cancer.

In another recent lab test, oleic acid (one of the fats in olive oil) was believed to be responsible for protection against breast cancer.

Sources:
“Olive Oil Compounds Fight Colon Cancer” NutraIngredients, 8/11/05, nutraingredients.com