Your Health Matters

Your Health Matters

Eating healthy by consuming organic (such as wild or farm-raised game) and other good ingredients will help you live longer and enjoy more time with those you love!!!

Whether in Rome or at home, do as the Romans do: Make olive oil a staple. If you already eat the Mediterranean way, you know that the oil not only tastes good but that it is good for you. It's an amazing source of antioxidants, capable of dousing inflammation, defending cells from menacing molecules, and more. Here's the latest on this superhero food.

IT CUTS YOUR CANCER RISK
Olive oil's cancer-preventing powers are lab legends. Which substances get the credit? Polyphenols, for one -- these potent plant antioxidants protect against cancer-causing cell damage. But it also looks like the oil's monounsaturated fat has anti-cancer effects, which means olive oil packs quite a one-two punch! Some people-proof: Check the lower rates of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer among Southern Europeans -- whose diets flow with olive oil -- compared to their northern neighbors.

IT HELPS YOUR HEART
There's virtually nothing better than the big "double O" when it comes to your heart. Olive oil ups good HDL cholesterol, lowers bad LDL, and reduces other harmful blood fats (triglycerides). And that's not all. It also reduces inflammation, another contributor to cardiovascular disease.

IT KEEPS YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE DOWN
Speaking of your heart, how's your blood pressure? If it's not below 120/80, you need to get it there. And yes, olive oil plays a role. It can help enough to reduce the need for daily meds. Those potent polyphenols appear to dilate arteries, which brings blood pressure down. (Always choose extra-virgin olive oil, by the way -- its minimal processing preserves the maximum number of antioxidants and heat-sensitive vitamins.)

IT HELPS YOU LOSE WEIGHT
"Great taste, less filling" -- that light beer slogan rings true for olive oil. While ounce for ounce, all oils have the same calories, olive oil has a fuller flavor so less is needed for tantalizing taste. Plus research shows that overweight people who eat a diet with some fat -- including olive oil -- are more likely to shed pounds than those who slash fat. Why? Oil's rich flavor makes it easier to stick with the program.

IT EASES YOUR ACHING HEAD
If you're prone to headaches and wary of overdoing ibuprofen, try routinely dressing your salad or crisp-tender veggies in extra-virgin olive oil. It contains oleocanthal, a natural compound that, like ibuprofen, blocks pain-producing and inflammatory substances -- but without the risk of stomach upset. While daily oleocanthal doses aren't the painkiller's complete equal, they could lower your risk for heart disease, cancer, arthritis and possibly Alzheimer's. Quite a trade-off.

Rosemary makes a healthier barbie

Adding a sprinkling of rosemary and other herbs to meat before cooking could help to counteract potentially dangerous compounds that form when protein-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures, according to a recent study.

While the research focused on rosemary, other herbs may offer similar health benefits to those who cook at temperatures 190°C and over, which can happen when meat is barbecued, grilled or fried.

"If you take a whiff of the spices in your spice rack, you'll find that basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary have somewhat similar aromas," says lead researcher Professor J Scott Smith, a food chemistry expert from Kansas State University.

"These herbs have some chemicals in common. If you sprinkle just a dash of rosemary and such herbs over your meats before cooking, you could achieve results comparable to what we found in our study."

Smith added two common chemicals found in the herbs, rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid, to homemade hamburgers.

These acids are antioxidants, meaning they help to prevent oxidation that can lead to unstable free radicals, which have been linked to diseases, such as cancer.

The researchers then cooked the burgers in a frying pan. As expected, cooking at high temperatures produced heterocyclic amines (HCAs).

These compounds, like free radicals, have been linked to various cancers. But herb-fortified beef reduced two HCAs when the meat was cooked between 190 and 200°C.

Findings were presented at the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy.

"There is no question that HCAs are bad because other studies show they modify human DNA," Smith says. "Any reduction of them should be a health benefit."

Cook long and slow
Ideally, he says, meat should be cooked low and slow with little or no burning.

For barbecues, he also says wood smoke may be better than charcoal briquettes because earlier studies indicate tree and plant smoke contain antioxidants. Native Americans even used to treat certain illnesses with wood smoke.

But burning wood also produces potentially cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, says Smith.

"Liquid smoke has been cleaned up and has no hydrocarbons," he says. "You could minimize exposure to the hydrocarbons by using it instead of grilling."

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