Sautéing vegetables in EVOO enhances health benefits…..

Sautéing vegetables in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) enhances health benefits

I was interested to read recently that a new Spanish study has found that sautéing a traditional combination of Mediterranean diet vegetables in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) increases the absorption and bioreactivity of their phytochemical compounds. 

It has long been known that the Mediterranean diet has beneficial effects on cardiovascular and metabolic health – however in many cases these have been difficult to reproduce in non-Mediterranean populations.  This study set out to show that it was not only the foods in the Mediterranean diet but the way they were cooked that produced the beneficial health effects. 

The study showed that cooking vegetables with extra virgin olive oil favors the bioactive compounds and also showed that olive oil plays an essential role in enhancing antioxidant capacity.  This supports previous studies that showed that the presence of olive oil increases the anti-inflammatory effects in tomato sauce. 

Yet again this study shows that not only does extra virgin olive oil have health benefits in its own right but that it has a synergistic effect when used to cook vegetables. 

So the next time you are looking to sauté some vegetables reach for your bottle of Manna Hill Estate extra virgin olive oil - not only will it taste great it is also good for you.