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<pre>Dear Friends:

It seems that after 4,000 years we have not yet discovered all the potential
benefits of olive oil. The following is an article that appeared in the
British Daily "The Guardian".

Best regards,

Constantine

It sounds like a Naked Chef recipe: take several slabs of sun-dried flesh,
drizzle with virgin olive oil, and marinate in a cool place before returning
to the sun.

The flesh, in this case, is your own. In a discovery set to have holiday
beaches smelling like a foodie's kitchen this summer, Japanese scientists
have found that applying virgin olive oil to the skin after sunbathing
protects against skin cancer.

A team led by Masamitsu Ichihashi of Kobe University decided to try the
olive oil treatment after realising that it was rich in a set of substances
called antioxidants.

Antioxidants, which include vitamins E and C, can mop up a pernicious type
of molecule called a free radical, which can damage cells and genes.

Free radicals are generated naturally by the body's absorption of oxygen but
they are also created by the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight, which in
turn can lead to skin cancer.

The latest edition of New Scientist magazine reports that the Kobe team
tanned hairless mice under a sunlamp three times a week. Shortly after the
tanning sessions some of the mice were painted with regular olive oil and
some with virgin oil.

After 18 weeks under the sun lamp, unoiled mice and those treated with
regular oil began to develop skin tumours.

The virgin oil mice did not show any sign of cancer for a further six weeks,
and when they did, the tumours were smaller and fewer. Their skin had also
suffered less genetic damage.

The Japanese researchers do not propose that olive oil is useful as a
sunscreen, but say that the results in mice suggest it could help protect
against skin cancer from the sun if applied after tanning.

The report is a further boost to the olive oil industry, already a
beneficiary of the north European fad for high quality Mediterranean
ingredients and evidence that olive oil can help protect against heart
disease.

Virgin olive oil, the product of the earliest pressing of the olive harvest,
is significantly more expensive than the regular variety.

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<pre>I agree that Vit C and E are both antioxidants. But Vitamin C which is
water soluble is not found in olive oil.

The antioxidants in olive oil are - phenolic compounds, tocopherols (Vit
E), carotene and funily enough chlorophyll (green pigment) is
antioxidant in the dark but an oxidant in light (involved in
photo-oxidation) and hence one of the reasons for storing olive oil in
dark bottles or out of the light.

Stan Kailis
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<pre>regarding Prof Kallis' comment about the lack of Vit C in Olive Oil:

is there a source for this info? why would they (the Japanese) repeatedly
(I've seen this research posted and reitterated in more than one place)
mention that olive oil contained vitamin c if it does not? (please excuse my
ignorance on the composotion of olive oil)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stan Kailis" <kailis@ca.com.au>
To: <OliveOil@egroups.com>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 2:26 PM
Subject: Re: [OliveOil] An interesting article from the British Daily "The
Guardian"


> I agree that Vit C and E are both antioxidants. But Vitamin C which is
> water soluble is not found in olive oil.
>
> The antioxidants in olive oil are - phenolic compounds, tocopherols (Vit
> E), carotene and funily enough chlorophyll (green pigment) is
> antioxidant in the dark but an oxidant in light (involved in
> photo-oxidation) and hence one of the reasons for storing olive oil in
> dark bottles or out of the light.
>
> Stan Kailis
>
>
>
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<pre>Dear all

My comments regarding Vitamin C in 0r not in olive oil is based on the
fact that Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin and here highly soluble
in aqueous media. I have not seen any reference to Vitamin C in the
chemical composition of olive oil. If it is present then it must be in
very small quantities or bound to some other compound. Vitamin A type
compounds are present in olive oil eg carotenes and these are oil
soluble.

This is not to say that Vit C is not present in olives!

Could you send me any references that I can follow up - I have to admit
I am not the absolute ORACLE.
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