Olive oil is good for us. Studies have shown that olive oil is an especially healthy food that is good for the heart, protects against cancer, reduces pain, lowers blood pressure, protects against oxidative damage, prevents gallstones, protects against ulcer development, controls cholesterol and protects against cognitive decline. The road to getting healthier includes incorporating natural olive oil into your diet. So you probably have some “extra virgin” olive oil in your cupboard that you use to make “healthy” salads. But what if you found out that your olive oil was a sham—a fake food designed to fool both regulators and the public, made from a mixture of olive oil and processed sunflower, soy or hazelnut oil? That it wasn’t healthy at all; in fact it wasn’t any better or less toxic than the processed supermarket oils you must avoid. You’d probably be pretty angry about it. Well, if you don’t already know about the olive oil scandal, be prepared to be outraged. One of the…

Worth its weight in goldA good olive oil has fantastic health benefits that make it unique and worth its weight in gold.The story begins in 1957, when scientist Ancel Keys discovered that people living on the island of Crete, in the Mediterranean Sea, had longer lives than any other European population. Even more exciting, their lives were relatively free from chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, age-related cognitive decline, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Keys believed the secret to this robust health lay in what he called "the Mediterranean Diet." A diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and omega 3 fats from fish, the Mediterranean Diet's centerpiece was pure, unrefined olive oil -- lots of it! In fact 35-40% of the calories in this diet came from healthy olive oil! As valuable as the rest of the Mediterranean diet was, it's since been determined that olive oil accounted for the lion's share of the diet's health benefits.Thousands of studie…