Features

• Olive oil has been a large part of the diet of the Mediterranean for time immemorial. Long known anecdotally to be good for you, scientists only recently discovered what makes olive oil beneficial. Olive oil is made up of 30 percent phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are a form of fatty acids that contain strong antioxidant properties.
  
  

Significance

• According the the McGill Reporter, olive oils have been shown to speed up metabolism as they are -- unlike animal fats -- not absorbed by regular body tissue but rather processed by the liver. When blended with other oils such as flax, canola and tropical oils, olive oil can heighten the body's ability to metabolize fats. Ingesting a blend of these particular oils -- known as "functional oils" -- can burn off excess weight.
  
  

Potential

• Companies such as Premiere Research Labs and McGill are currently exploring the marketability of "functional oils" to help increase metabolism. Combining olive oil with these other oils as part as a healthy, balanced diet can increase the rate at which the body burns calories. In recent studies, participants who incorporated functional oils into their diets by using them as cooking oils lost an average of one pound a month. These oils blends are also marketed as supplements under the title of EFA, or Essential Fatty Acids.