Many factors can produce or accelerate the oxidation process in our body, this happens when free radicals are activated: agents that cause aging.

Other consequences that oxidation brings are the development of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

What should we do to avoid it?

Have a good diet: consume 'antioxidant' foods that protect the body against harmful substances.

Among the antioxidant foods we have:

• Olive oil

• Fruits and vegetables

• Legumes

• Tea

• Chocolate

• Whole grains

• Fishs

• Nuts

Why is Extra Olive Oil beneficial?

This oil contains vitamin E, which prevents oxidation or cell damage caused by aging and the appearance of tumors.

According to studies and evaluations have shown that certain compounds of olive oil have antitumor effects and complement our preparations every day with this ingredient can reduce the risk.

A study by the Autonomous University of Barcelona shows that the consumption of extra virgin olive oil reduces the malignancy of breast cancer and slows the growth of tumors. The research confirms that dietary fats do not produce or cure cancer, but rather modulate the clinical course of the disease. The Multidisciplinary Group for the Study of Breast Cancer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona has spent three decades investigating the effect of fat intake on the evolution of breast cancer and has experimented with rats with cancer that have been treated with different diets, and also with humans. Until now, it was already known that the incidence of breast tumors is significantly lower in the countries of the Mediterranean basin, where olive oils are a fundamental part of the diet. The research, directed by Eduard Escrich, sought to know the specific effects of the consumption of different types of oils, as well as the mechanisms by which these foods could interact with the tumor.

Based on this premise, the researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona made an experimental model in rats with breast cancer fed with diets rich in extra virgin olive oil or in seed oil, and another in humans. The study, which has had the collaboration of the Interprofessional Olive Oil, has shown that olive oil slows the progression of breast cancer and that it does so through various and complex mechanisms, among which its inhibitory action is highlighted of the proliferation pathways of tumor cells and the induction of their death (a process known as apoptosis). On the other hand, the researchers have also concluded that extra virgin olive oil has from an early age "an effect on weight and sexual maturation that would be compatible with a protective effect of the mammary gland on the neoplastic transformation".

The experiment also proved that the tumors of individuals fed diets with extra virgin olive oil are of lower degree of malignancy (clinical and morphological). The group has described some of the mechanisms involved in this differential action (the modulation of gene expression and the state of cellular differentiation). Dr. Eduard Escrich clarifies that most of the research indicates that when the disease already exists for other reasons, certain fats, such as extra virgin olive oil, slow down its progression, while others, such as saturated fats or omega 6 , when they are ingested in high quantities, they would accelerate the clinical course.

SOURCE: Autonomous University of Barcelona.