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Extra-virgin olive oil anti-inflammatory-scientists
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have just found out what gourmets have always known -- that there is something special about fresh extra-virgin olive oil.
A tasting experience at a molecular gastronomy meeting in Sicily led University of Pennsylvania biologist Gary Beauchamp to analyze freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil, in which he found a chemical that acted like ibuprofen.
He and his team named their discovery oleocanthal and found that, although it has a different chemistry, its effect is similar to that of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compound in the commercial pain-killer, they wrote in the science journal Nature.
The discovery is significant because scientists believe to an increasing extent that inflammation plays an important part in a variety of chronic diseases like stroke, heart disease, and breast and lung cancer.
"Our findings raise the possibility that long-term consumption of oleocanthal may help to protect against some diseases," they wrote.
It may also go some way to explaining the health benefits long attributed to the olive-oil rich Mediterranean diet.
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have just found out what gourmets have always known -- that there is something special about fresh extra-virgin olive oil.
A tasting experience at a molecular gastronomy meeting in Sicily led University of Pennsylvania biologist Gary Beauchamp to analyze freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil, in which he found a chemical that acted like ibuprofen.
He and his team named their discovery oleocanthal and found that, although it has a different chemistry, its effect is similar to that of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compound in the commercial pain-killer, they wrote in the science journal Nature.
The discovery is significant because scientists believe to an increasing extent that inflammation plays an important part in a variety of chronic diseases like stroke, heart disease, and breast and lung cancer.
"Our findings raise the possibility that long-term consumption of oleocanthal may help to protect against some diseases," they wrote.
It may also go some way to explaining the health benefits long attributed to the olive-oil rich Mediterranean diet.