EVOO 2

Some of you know my story, I’m the UC/Olive Oil guy (yawn). Here is an update with some of what we have learned over the past year. The original post is now too long for most to trawl through so hopefully this will be concise but helpful.

I’ve had UC for 15 years and always flared within a few weeks of quitting smoking. Research from Dr A. Hart (University East Anglia UK) led me to try 1 big spoon (10ml) of Extra Virgin Olive Oil 3 times a day, producing a symptom free/smoke free year. It works best on an empty stomach, 1st thing in the morning, before lunch and before bed at night. Yes, I had a healthy colon to start with but this was still achieved despite a very poor UC diet with excesses of take away’s, additives, sugar, dairy, red meat, alcohol.‎‎meat and stress. The significant preventative effect Dr Hart referred to was clearly apparent.

http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2010/may/oliveoilstudy

It has been quite a journey which has included going back to school (UC school), 1 long flare and an EVOO course at Villa Campestri, Tuscany.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil and it’s components are being greatly researched with many health benefits being attributed to them. It is proven to be one of the best Superfoods so trying it is a no brainer in my view. Some now say it is EVOO that gives the Mediterranean diet it’s health status. Some studies that closely relate to UC can be found on my original post but here are a few of the main reasons why I believe it is so effective/protective for UC.

1) Kills some nasty bacteria’s like Helibactor Pylori.

2) “Oleocanthal ” (only in EVOO) is a natural low dose anti inflammatory which also helps with pain relief around the body.

3) It’s fatty acids have proven wound healing properties.

4) Speeds up digestive transit time. Every time I quit smoking (without EVOO) my normal BM’s ground to a halt. I experienced bloating and reduced BM’s for a few weeks. Followed by the nastier UC symptoms and inevitable multi daily BM’s and blood!

We’ve all experienced an excess of BM’s per day and this would lead us to presume that slowing digestive transit time could be desirable. Having witnessed the controlled beginnings of UC many times from smoking cessation, I am convinced keeping things moving is very necessary in order to improve UC conditions. Red Meat, alcohol and iron slow things down for me at least so I also now moderate my consumption of these.

I’ve received some amazing life changing stories from EVOO converts over the past year. Unfortunately, it does not work for everyone, though what does? Here are a few tips to source and use EVOO for UC.

1) “Extra Virgin” olive oil has to pass minimum standards to be described as such. “Pure”, “Virgin”, “Real” or any other words preceeding Olive Oil do not. Mistakenly taking plain olive oil for a month resulted in a flare that I eventually had to smoke my way out of.

2) Take on an empty stomach for best absorption and effectiveness. Taking the same volume with food does not work, for me at least.

3) The very freshest, best oils are too strong, a half decent Italian supermarket oil will be just right though must give a slight throat burn/cough or “Oleocanthal burn”. I bought 2 of the best/freshest oils in the world (Villa Campestri) during my flare and they did not work as well. I am still waiting for my M+S Evoo test results in order to compare and help find out why, though a very high polyphenol content could actually be an irritant.

4) Good and generally un mixed oils have a harvest date, 0 – 2yrs is ok but no more.

5) If you are concerned about how much oil is safe to consume in one day, 50 ml is a lot but still considered as ok.

Dr Hart found an unusually low occurrence of UC in people who regularly consumed EVOO. It was highly likely that those taking part in the study would have been using an ordinary oil from a supermarket (not fresh from a Tuscan estate). Judging by what’s widely available in th UK it would most likely have been Italian oil. For those of you outside the European Union I would still recommend Italian oils if possible. Though the reputation of Italian oils is tainted, my 2 experience’s of stronger Spanish (Picual) oils were not so good, I believe some of the Californian oils are produced from this Cultivar. Even the 1st Evoo post failed to show any of the expected strides forward once people began trying the best oils.

So hopefully that helps with some information for buying a half decent oil while avoiding the very best and worst obviously. Sounds crazy but all tried and tested conclusions there.

I will obviously continue to work with EVOO as my main tool for fighting UC and welcome feedback from others in order to optimise this treatment. It has genuinely made me believe I can get the better of my UC free of both cigarettes and medication, I hope you can too!

I would like to dedicate this post to 2 VIP’s in the UC world, Adam and Bev, great inspiring work and thank you!

Evoo part 1: https://www.ihaveuc.com/olive-oil-is-helping-my-ulcerative-colitis/