Does Olive Oil Help Lower cholesterol?

… Continuing …

Having olive oil doesn’t mean you now can eat all what you want. Its effectiveness in helping to lower your LD decreases /even may disappear when you still stick with diet high in saturated fats and diet high in cholesterol.

When you choose olive oil for one of treatment options to lower your cholesterol, you need to get the most of your dietary fat from healthy fats (unsaturated fats) – as noted before!

Many studies confirmed that the effectiveness of olive oil in lowering LDL can work optimally if followed with diet low /free in bad fats (such as saturated fats & trans-fat). The simple way to restrict ‘bad fats’ in your diet is by eating more whole foods (like fresh fruits and whole grains) and eating less processed foods.

It’s important to make sure that you consume olive oil at its best quality. For this reason, you should not only focus on how to buy the best one but also should concern on how to store it properly.

Here are some helpful tips:

1. Purchase it in appropriate amounts. Ensure to choose in right amounts you will use it not longer than 6 months. The levels of antioxidants and essential nutrients of olive oil can decrease significantly after a year in storage (in the case for the best of storage conditions), according to a study released in the May issue of Food Chemistry. And it’s not always easy to store it under the best of storage conditions all the time. Therefore, use it only within 6 months!
2. Where the best place to purchase it? In order to ensure that it has not been sitting /storing on the shelf for very long, it’s recommended to purchase it from a busy store where the number of selling of it is high.
3. After purchasing, now you need to focus on how to store it safely and properly! Choose metal tins, opaque, or airtight bottles to store it – and make sure you put it far away from heat or light! How about refrigerator – can use it to store olive oil? Refrigerator is not too bad idea. It may make the oil to become thick or cloudy, but it will not significantly change the taste and quality of olive oil.

* Image credit to ‘Getty RF Images’ for illustration