Olive Oil

Or you can do it yourself with chilis, garlic, rosemary, etc ( obviously not all together!).

Thanks, baden. Just been and glanced at your link. The first word that jumped out at me in the title of the report was "can", not "will" or "does". Nothing scientifically definite there. Also, the sample size at 69 was minute and, again, no use to prove anything. You need a sample. size of at least 1000 for any statistics from such studies to be any use at all. The only useful thing about the study that I can pick out right now is that it possibly shows that they need to do a large, proper sized experiment. I'll reserve judgment until that's done.

You're absolutely right Thatbags, it's far too small a sample to get any meaningful information from it. If I remember rightly from the programme, this was made clear. But what it does suggest is that it certainly is worth further investigation in a more controlled manner.

DH tried putting the olive oil (only I dessert spoon though) in his porridge this morning - looked revolting to me but he said you could barely discern it- he just wanted to try. I shall continuing putting a little on his salad. As the urine test is not available how do we know if its needed/working. He is thinking of using it as an insurance policy as he has such a high but treated cholesterol.- Sorry I haven't read this whole thread you may have covered this.

We eat quite a lot of the stuff but cooked as well as raw. So will just up it a bit on the raw side.

I hear what everyo e one is saying 're the sample size etc. But for me it is a chance to do something positive
It won't do any harm and just might help even if only a bit.

I use mainly rape seed oil which is produced locally.

We had a Lithuanian au pair who made porridge and added a lump of butter when it was cooked so I suppose there is no difference. She said that was how they normally cooked porridge.

That sounds very like eating it with cream.

I just love dipping bread in 'raw' olive oil, several places serve it including a lovely little poetry/philosophy/painting cafe. One DG likes to dip warmed pitta bread in for a snack.
Optician this morning commented that my likelihood of macular degeneration has decreased since my last eye test and was I eating a lot of leafy green vegetables now. Not especially but from now on, spinach here I come!

The Mediterranean diet was added to the world heritage list so recognising it.

In Portugal they always have olive oil on the table and put it on fish and cooked vegetables like we might add butter. They always serve salad with olive oil. I don't see them dipping bread in it as you do other countries and they eat bread without anything.

Since joining the EU they eat more sugary snacks, chocolate and sweets. Breakfast cereals, which they never ate before, have a very high sugar content despite being the same brands available in the uk. They have dramatically reduced the number of smokers sometimes meaning weight increase. More cars, more computers, more TV, less exercise.

But my biggest moan, Fast Food chains. Portugal has so many wonderful small cheap restuarants with good fresh cooked food, it didn't need Macdonalds etc.

Nobody needs MacDonald's ajanela

Apart from their toilet facilities, Anya I've needed them on many a trip.

So for that reason alone we won't put MacDonald's into Room 101

I use rapeseed oil for cooking as I was told it reaches a high temperature before it burns so ideal for stir fries. Olive oil best for salad dressings, for making hummus etc. I have a bottle of each on my counter.

Same trajectory in Spain ajanela. Much more processed food and more fat people over the last 10 years. Since leaving the UK I have lost a lot of weight without dieting and I slosh the olive oil with gay abandon. I use it on toast instead of butter when I'm having something like eggs on toast, but still love butter on other things. Never margarine though. It's worth experimenting with different olive oils as some can be bitter and unpleasant. A few pink peppercorns and a little rosemary added to a bottle makes the oil sweeter.

Having watched the programme, I tried two spoonsful of olive oil yesterday. I didn't find it at all pleasant, and quickly swallowed some pineapple to take away the taste and the sheer oiliness. The oil kept repeating on me (coming back to haunt me!), but I shall p persevering inersevere as my cholesterol is high. I just wish I knew if it was doing any good.

Always dismissive of these so called health reports - you wait within months it will have been displaced with something else or proved misleading.

I use litres of olive oil, both in cooking and 'raw'. love it. very healthy, no heart problems and my skin is very good and I look years younger than my age. Again and again I go back to a balanced diet of all food groups in moderation. Yes I could do with losing more weight but that's probably because i'm not good on portion control!

graninthemist - olive oil is good for high cholesterol, and did you know that duck is one of the best - it is high in calories but the low cholesterol means you can eat a lot! and eggs have been proved to not have high bad cholesterol.

When we were in New Zealand last year we visited several wineries, and most also produced olive oil so we tasted quite a few different ones. I was amazed at the difference in flavour between them, so maybe if you don't like the taste of one you could try another from a different country, or a different region. Lidl and Aldi are always selling different oils during their 'regional specials', I bought one from Puglia recently which is delicious.

I live in the Med and my neighbours cook with olive oil but then just before eating their meal they drizzle a little olive oil over the food on their plate. Soon adds up to 2 tbsp! I've started to copy them. Obviously there are some dishes where it doesn't go so well but mostly, it works. The way they eat here is amazing. I feel and look (hopefully!) 100% better. It's not just the food itself but how they eat. Portion size, attitude to alcohol etc

I was a little puzzled by this programme, as they were evaluating the results on the basis of a "heart disease marker" in the urine - which begs the question why this is not used routinely to identify those with potential or active heart disease. I was also very puzzled indeed that this marker appeared to reduce so rapidly over the short timespan of the project. Does this mean that in that short time there had been a reversal of the disease process? - that seems too good to be true; and again begs the question why everyone with heart disease is not being told by their GP to eat olive oil as a treatment.

I lived some years in Spain and had a "Mediterranian " diet but it did not stop me getting bowel cancer. Thankfully cured. I have always used and cooked with olive oil. It doesn't all taste the same according to the country of origin and the amount of refining.

This has reminded me that my Dad used to take 2 tnsp olive oil every day. He had heard that it cured and prevented sciatica, which he had suffered from.
it did seem to cure it. he was always very thin.

I didn't see the programme, but nearly a year ago I was advised to take a tablespoonful of olive oil every day for a health problem that I will not go into! Quite apart from helping that, I was astonished when having a routine blood screen to be told that my HDL (the good cholesterol) had risen so much that they no longer considered me to need statins. I have never taken these and have no intention of doing so unless I suffer a heart attack, but it is nice to know that my risk status has come down.

I can't take it neat, it makes me retch. However if you use a light olive oil such as Waitrose sells, then adding it to a small quantity of orange juice and swirling it round the glass means that you really can't taste it. There is a slight greasiness left on the lips, which is probably good for them, but that is it!

I always use olive oil for cooking, but can't face the thought of neat olive oil. If it needs to be uncooked, maybe there is the same good ingredient in the olives themselves so we are going to eat a few of them a day Instead, and only drizzle oil on a few things.