OLIVE OIL & FITNESS
How a good olive oil works for sports and muscle building
Professional athletes have known for years that high-quality extra virgin olive oil benefits their performance. Initially, it was only used for the intake of healthy, easily digestible calories. Extra virgin olive oil is therefore becoming increasingly popular in fitness clubs, not least because of its easy digestibility. Recently, it has become common knowledge that extra virgin olive oil is full of antioxidants such as oleacein and anti-inflammatory agents such as oleocanthal, which help us build muscle, heal or prevent injuries, and regenerate muscles. Only extra virgin olive oil with a high polyphenol content works optimally. There are other benefits of polyphenols found in high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which contain anti-inflammatory compounds such as oleocanthal, a tyrosol derivative.
Olive oil from Coratina olives has the highest content of these anti-inflammatory phenolic components and contains oleacein, a hydroxytyrosol derivative with strong detoxifying effects. Vitamin E is another important ingredient found in abundance in extra virgin olive oil and its health benefits have long been established. Monosaturated fatty acids, oleocanthal, oleacein, vitamin E and numerous other components in olive oil form the basis for the superfood extra virgin olive oil. Many sports websites reference the information quoting nutritionist Dr Douglas Kalman of Florida International University
The monosaturated fat in olive oil appears to act as an anti-catabolic nutrient.
In other words, it prevents muscle breakdown because it reduces levels of a harmful cell protein TNF (tumour nectrosis factor-a), which has been linked to muscle breakdown and weakness.” In fact, TNF is associated with inflammation. As it turns out, olive oil does not increase it like other lipids, but is actually involved in decreasing TNF. Because of its anti-inflammatory effects, extra virgin olive oil helps build muscle. This is the decisive factor in building muscle mass. It is not really surprising that bodybuilders declare Extra Virgin Olive Oil an indispensable part of their diet.
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