For more than a decade olive oil has been under the microscope of the international scientific community and the interest in investigating the beneficial effects it can have on human health is no longer limited to its "natural area", the Mediterranean basin.
The reason scientists from all over the world have begun to examine it thoroughly is the famous phenols it contains. These substances with "exotic" names such as hydroxytyrosol, oleoeuropein, oleasin, oleocanthal may not yet have entered our everyday vocabulary, but they have begun to appear on product labels on supermarket shelves and pharmacies, while the promises of benefits they can offer us are many.
However, how much of what we hear and read about them is still in the "promise" stage and how much has proven their value and safety? And, in addition to being a very good food that shields health, can olive oil in the future also develop into a very good source of medicine?