Olive Oil Protects Liver

Extra virgin olive oil, a major part of the vaunted Mediterranean diet, has been shown to protect the liver from damage from harmful chemicals and boost antioxidant enzymes. UPI reports that researchers at the University of Monastir in Tunisia and King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, separated 80 rats into a control group, an olive oil group and six groups exposed to the herbicide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid with or without either whole olive oil, or two olive oil extracts — hydrophilic fraction or the lipophilic fraction. The scientists found that all rats exposed to the herbicide showed signs of significant liver damage, but the rats that ate the extra virgin olive oil and hydrophilic fraction had a significant increase in antioxidant enzyme activity and a decrease in markers of liver damage. Read an abstract from the study here.

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