Health Benefits of Olive Oil

Calories in a tablespoon of olive oil are about equal the amount in a tablespoon of other vegetable oils, but because of its rich taste, you will not use as much. The “fats” from olive oil are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which have been found to lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood which is much better than saturated fats, like butter or palm or coconut oils, which cause cholesterol levels to rise. A 10 year investigation carried out by the University of Minnesota into the relationship between heart disease and the fat in 7 national diets, revealed that Italians and Greeks who are heavy consumers of olive oil have one of the lowest rates of heart disease!