Fight for Your Health with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you have read the previous posts, you probably know about antioxidants' wonderful effects on our health. In case you haven't, here is a brief overview. Antioxidants are known to prevent cells from getting damaged or slow down the process, thus improving your health.

More specifically, active cells produce waste substances called free radicals, just like machines and their rust. Rusted machines will be broken, cells with free radicals will be damaged. This is particularly dangerous because cell damage is the culprit behind various chronic diseases, ranging from cancer to dementia and strokes. Luckily, antioxidants can help remove free radicals from your cells and, as a result, drastically reduce your odds of suffering from said diseases.

What do you have in your guts? Answers may vary, but among other things is certainly a busy world of bacteria. The majority of those tiny organisms are good bacteria that are vital to digestion. Without them, you would probably not be able to get the most out of your food. A healthy digestive system means good health, and this is where polyphenols kick in—shown to encourage the growth of good bacteria while repressing the development of harmful ones. So if you are having digestive problems, a high intake of polyphenols may help relieve the situation.

Inflammation isn't inherently bad. It is part of the body's defense mechanism. When something awful from the outside, such as viruses, bacteria, or foreign objects like a thorn, enters your body, this will trigger a biological response involving inflammation to remove it. But occasionally, the body erroneously identifies its cells or tissues as harmful and tries to destroy them. This causes chronic inflammation and leads to a host of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, etc. So what do polyphenols do? Studies show that they have excellent anti-inflammatory properties, meaning they can reduce chronic inflammation and the risk of associated illness.

Among silent killers of the modern age, diabetes is one of the most dangerous, affecting nearly 450 million people worldwide. Fortunately, polyphenols can save the day. For one thing, they reduce chronic inflammation, which is a contributing factor to diabetes. For another thing, they help control blood sugar levels by improving the release of insulin, a hormone that facilitates your body's efficient use of sugar. Failure to use this hormone properly is a significant factor in diabetes, and polyphenols ensure that it is less likely to happen.