Benefits of Olive Oil for Keto
People forget about the power of olive oil, whether you’re keto or not. But if you’re on a ketogenic diet, turns out that olive oil might just be one of the most powerful ways to mobilize fats from your storage form into the bloodstream, so they can ultimately be burned for fuel and turned into ketones, which are going to boost your brain function and have a bunch of other restorative effects on your body. So we’re going to dive into how this process works, with something known as oleic acid, which is the amazing fat that’s in olive oil and a little bit in avocados as well. I’m Thomas DeLauer with Keto-Mojo and let’s go a little bit Mediterranean for a minute.
Olive Oil is One of the Best Fats on a Ketogenic Diet, but Don’t Cook with It
Okay, so here’s the thing. Olive oil, somewhere along the lines, got a little bit of a bad wrap. And I think it’s simply because olive oil is a very fragile oil and people were talking about how cooking with olive oil could be bad. Cooking with olive oil is bad because olive oil is fragile and it shouldn’t be brought to a high temperature. So you should not cook with olive oil. So that part’s correct, but that does not mean that olive oil’s bad. Heck, I am probably going to go out and argue that olive oil might be one of the best ketogenic fats that you can possibly have. This is all based on relatively new research that I’ve been seeing.
The Secret to Why Olive Oil is so Good on Keto: Oleic Acid
So here’s what happens. There is something in olive oil known as oleic acid. Oleic acid turns into something known as OEA, oleoylethanolamide. That’s a complicated word, so we’re just going to call it OEA, okay? OEA has been shown to have extremely powerful properties, when it comes down to affecting gene expression. What that means is it activates different pathways in the body that allow us to burn more fat. So let me make this really simple. You drizzle a little bit of olive oil on your salad, you enjoy the taste, you think it’s great. But what’s happening in your body is really what’s cool, okay? So that olive oil goes into its digestive mode. It goes to the liver processing, it goes to the small intestine. And then it even goes out to the peripheral tissues. And in those peripheral tissues, it gets converted into this OEA form, okay? The oleic acid from the olive oil gets turned into this OEA. This OEA then spills over, into the bloodstream. And when it spills over, into the bloodstream, it circulates and activates what are called transcription factors.
Olive Oil Mobilizes Fat
Specific transcription factors, in this case, is known as PPAR alpha, not really that important. Basically, what it does, is it turns on the genes that allow fat to get mobilized. So it’s kind of, at a genetic level, turning on fatty acid mobilization. So studies have found that when oleic acid is present and ultimately OEA, there is a massive mobilization of glycerol and free fatty acids, indicating that triglycerides have been mobilized from the fatty tissues into the blood. And a subsequent increase in ketones, yep.
Olive Oil Elevates Ketone Levels
Because consuming olive oil increases those levels of OEA, which mobilize the fats, which therefore send the fats to the liver to get packaged up into ketones, which therefore register on Keto-Mojo meter, make you feel good and also help your cognitive function. So OEA, in essence, could be something that doesn’t just help you burn fat, but also helps elevate your ketone levels, so you get the best of both worlds, a fat burning body and the mental boost that you need, plus the plethora of other benefits that come from the ketogenetic diet and ketones in the first place.
Drizzle Olive Oil on Food Liberally
Now, avocados have a lot of this powerful oleic acid as well, so don’t totally discount them. What I would recommend doing is not cooking with the olive oil and not even really cooking with the avocado oil, just getting it in its raw form. So using some good, fresh, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil and drizzle it on your salad. Have a little bit of it because it’s going to activate the uncoupling proteins that are going to get your core body temperature up. The long story short is it’s activating fat burning pathways and it’s been proven with science. The avocados, I recommend just adding a little bit to your eggs, adding a little bit here and there, just so that you’re getting that extra OEA throughout the course of the day. And one last cool fact that you need to know. The more OEA from olive oil or avocados that’s floating through your body, them more oxytocin affect.
I want you to do a little experiment with yourself. Next time you consume some olive oil, keep close track of how hungry you feel afterwards. There’s a good chance you’re totally satiated and that’s because of the effect that it has on the vagus nerve traveling up to the hypothalamus and ultimately secreting oxytocin, which is the cuddle hormone, but it’s also a hormone that helps you feel a lot better and satiated. All kinds of fun stuff coming about the Mediterranean superstar of olive oil. So keep it locked in here, with Keto-Mojo, leave the guess work out of the equation and leave the measuring to the meter. I will see you in the next video.
