EVOO can reduce your risk of heart disease by improving blood cholesterol levels: lowering the “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and increasing HDL cholesterol.

Heart disease can affect people of all ages, although the risk increases as you get older. Rising obesity levels around the world have lowered the average age of onset of heart disease risk factors such as atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”), which can start as early as childhood.

Several studies have shown that EVOO as part of the Mediterranean diet can help prevent type 2 diabetes. In a PREDIMED study, the group of people who ate an olive oil–rich Mediterranean diet reported 40% fewer cases of diabetes than the control group (who did not consume olive oil). In another study, which evaluated people at risk for diabetes, two tablespoons per day of EVOO, along with fiber, reduced fasting and 2-hour glucose (blood sugar) to normal, non-diabetic levels.

A recently published, long-term PREDIMED study suggests that a Mediterranean diet enriched with EVOO helps protect against breast cancer. Olive oil consumption is also inversely related to breast density: women who consume greater amounts of olive oil are less likely to have high breast density, a risk factor for breast cancer.

In a study of breast cancer survivors, women who ate a plant-based, olive oil enriched diet lost more weight than women on a low-fat diet. In addition, women in the study overwhelmingly chose to continue with the olive oil diet for 6 months of follow-up after the initial 8-week study.

In a year-long study of people with high blood pressure, people who consumed olive oil lowered their blood pressure significantly compared to those who consumed sunflower oil (which contains omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs). What’s more, a third of the people in the olive oil group experienced enough of a reduction in blood pressure that they were able to discontinue antihypertensive medication.

The monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) in EVOO have been shown to reduce blood vessel inflammation and other factors that can lead to blood clots and even reduces the risk of clotting of proteins in the brain as what is seen in Alzheimer disease.

Multiple compounds in EVOO have anti-inflammatory properties—MUFAs as well as phenols. Many medical conditions can be traced to chronic inflammation, in particular autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system attacks and damages the body’s own tissues.

The anti-inflammatory properties of EVOO have been shown to alleviate the pain of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease affecting the joints. A diet high in EVOO may even lower the risk for developing RA especially when combined with a high quality omega-3.

A recent PREDIMED study found that older people who ate a Mediterranean diet supplemented with EVOO experienced better brain power compared to participants on a low-fat diet.

EVOO in a breastfeeding mother’s diet helps maintain high levels in breast milk of vitamin E, which is vital to an infant’s brain and nerve development. To help nursing mothers relieve nipple soreness, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and others recommend applying EVOO to the affected area. In contrast to ointments such as lanolin, EVOO does not need to be wiped off before nursing.

Olive oil is also celebrated for making hair soft and shiny, whether as a leave-in conditioner or shampooed out after a warm oil wrap. Generations of women (and men too!) also swear by olive oil as a moisturizer, especially for hands, feet, and rough, dry elbows.