Olive oil
Today we will not concentrate on the miracle of the “kad ha-shemen” but on the medical miracles of olive oil.
Olive oil is simply “good for everything”!
Prevention and treatment of: hypertension, heart and blood vessel diseases, diabetes, all sorts of cancers [extremely beneficial in the prevention of breast cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer etc], asthma, arthritis etc
Rub the skin also with olive oil after a day on the beach or excessive sun exposure.
On top of all that is mentioned above, new research suggests that extra-virgin olive oil contains a compound called oleocanthal that does relieve [chronic] pain and this may be beneficial, specially with long term use of olive oil.
As a test: If the oil is high in oleocanthal it will cause a slight burning or stinging sensation in the throat.
Nearly for sure the frequency of all form of cancer would drop dramatically if olive oil was the only oil used in the diet, as well as all forms of cardiovascular problems.
As known to you I advise as second healthy oil the use of sesame oil
[for the moment buy in Israel only the brand of the company B and D ]which has different health benefits.
No other oils, certainly not canola.
As we have too little space here to describe the mechanisms of the medical effects of olive oil [as far as they are known] let’s concentrate on some practical facts useful for anybody.
Buy a high quality olive oil: don’t save money in this case!
The quality of the oil is dependent on very many factors.
The olives on the upper branches of the tree are of a better quality [receiving more sun]
If you want to read some more about olive oil tradition then read the piece of text from yalkut ME’AM LO’EZ [ parasha: tetsawe].
For those studying mishnayot: see menahot chapter 8 ,mishna 4
Already in mishnaic times it was known that there are actually nine grades of olive oil. The only difference is in how they are made. Three times a year olives are harvested from the tree. They are not harvested all at once since different olives ripen at different times. There are some olives that ripen very quickly. These are the ones at the top of the tree, which receive the most sunlight. These olives are harvested first, and three grades of oil are pressed from them.
The quality of the oil is dependent on many factors : the kind of olives, the higher[of the best quality] or lower ones on the tree, the handling of the olives, the climate, the “field”, the pressing method, heat, light ,storage etc.
Olive oil should be stored from the moment of production in totally dark bottles, because light destroys much good of the oil
Buy always extra virgin oil [katit tahor]
An excellent description would be: organic ,cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil, especially when all these characteristics are mentioned and bottled in dark bottles to the extent that the oil is not visible.[extra virgin should be mentioned on the bottle as the minimum requirement !!]
Cold pressed: this is the way of pressing the oil.
This does not mean that olive oil, once prepared already, can’t be used for cooking or frying purposes, an idea often spread by “nutrition-philosophers” without any basis to it.
In fact any Jew reading the Torah / Mishna should know better, where olive oil is described as being used for these purposes.
Nothing in modern science even would contradict this.
“Pure olive oil”[shemen zayit zach etc] and these kinds of descriptions mean nothing and these oils maybe of very low quality [produced after many pressings]
Using olive oil and at the same time other “rubbish oils” [not to mention margarine!] reduces tremendously the highly protective effects of olive oil.
Olive oil contains many important compounds.
Three important examined compounds are:
Oleic acid , squalene, linoleic acid
Various brands of olive oils contain different proportions of these compounds. In general: the higher the ratio of oleic acid to linoleic acid, the better!
For example a ratio of 13 or higher [that means 13 times more oleic acid then linoleic acid , could be very good, a ratio of 10 a bit less so and a much lower ratio far less good, but if you think this is all you have to know........then sorry!!
Squalene may be extremely important as well and may be one of the major cancer protecting factors.
Alas, in Israel I have not seen a single company specifying any of these compounds on the bottle.
But I am sure we have excellent oil and any company specifying more on the bottle would be a straight recommendation.
Extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil contains also substantial quantities of lutein and carotene, also very important compounds for good vision.
How much oil to use daily??
There is no answer to this question, from tradition one knows that it maybe a spoon or a few spoons a day.
If one is not in the habit to use regularly olive oil, then it maybe a good idea to use /"drink" in the morning [or at other times] one or two spoons together with some salt/herbs[we advise to buy Herbamare and to use this instead of plain salt]
This may be a very potent way of preventing many diseases.
For all of us it should be clear, that a good quality olive oil is a blessing “bli dai”, even without all the scientific back up
Chanuka sameach ,with olive oil [and sufganiot] as medicine as well : for sure an extra reason for saying Hallel!!
