By Dr. Bob Oksenholt
Start Simple: Two Tablespoons, Twice a Day
I tell my patients: Take two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil twice a day. It doesn’t cure disease. It prevents it. And it tastes better than any pill I can prescribe.
You don’t need to change your whole diet. Just start with two real tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil twice a day. You can take it straight or on food you already love.
Four tablespoons daily and your arteries relax, your inflammation calms. And the blood moves more easily. It helps your heart, your brain, your blood sugar, and your joints. When patients ask me why, I talk about polyphenols and oleic acid.
The Power of Oleic Acid
Oleic acid, a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid makes up 70–80% of the oil. Oleic acid boosts your good cholesterol, lowers the bad, and fights inflammation. It helps regulate blood sugar and supports your brain.
It reduces the risk of coronary artery disease and even Alzheimer’s.
Oleic acid is better than other kinds of fat. Saturated fat clogs your arteries. Trans fat gives you a heart attack. Seed oils oxidize rapidly, promoting inflammation. Oleic acid is heart-friendly, anti-inflammatory, and safe to cook with. It’s not just good fat. It’s smart fat.
Polyphenols: Nature’s Cell Guardians
The other essential ingredient is polyphenols. These plant compounds are found in abundance in extra virgin olive oil. Polyphenols enter the bloodstream and clean up, cell by cell. Polyphenols sweep out the messes your body doesn’t even know it made.
Your body naturally produces free radicals— a molecule with an unpaired electron, unstable and reactive. Free radicals roam your body looking to steal electrons, which damages your cells.
Polyphenols donate an electron, stabilizing the molecule without becoming unstable themselves. It’s protection at the molecular level.
That means less inflammation, slower aging, and lower disease risk. You don’t notice the change. But your body does. You don’t feel it happen. You feel better.
Here’s how I explain it to patients: Polyphenols clean out the toxic waste from your blood. They reduce unnecessary inflammation, which helps prevent chronic disease. They improve how your body handles fat and sugar, which protects against heart disease and diabetes.
A Small Habit That Changes Everything
Two tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil twice a day – four tablespoons – can change your health. Inside your body, the arteries widen. Inflammation quiets. Your brain starts to hum again. Your cholesterol improves. Your blood sugar levels off. And your gut stops leaking.
I’ll explain it the way scientists do:
Four tablespoons daily introduce a sustained intake of monounsaturated fats and phenolic compounds. This modulates lipid metabolism, reduces systemic inflammation, and improves mitochondrial function. Neuroprotective, cardioprotective, and antioxidative effects are dose-dependent.
Real Benefits Require Real Oil
What it is quite simply is that you’re feeding your heart. You’re protecting your brain. You’re easing inflammation from the inside out.
Four tablespoons a day is therapeutic. But it only works if it’s extra virgin olive oil. And it works best when it replaces junk fats, not just adds to them.
Refined olive oils (“pure,” “light,” or “pomace”) are processed with heat and chemicals and lose most of the polyphenols and antioxidant power.
Look for “Extra Virgin” on the label (not just “olive oil”). The heart health and anti-inflammatory effect depend on quality.
Choose oils that say “Cold Pressed” or “First Pressed” Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Buy dark glass bottles (to protect from light damage). If it costs six bucks and comes in a clear plastic bottle, it’s garbage. Look for the harvest date (fresher is better; within 18 months is ideal) It should have a slightly peppery or bitter taste (a sign of polyphenol content) and smell a little like fresh cut grass.
If it’s too cheap, it’s fake or low quality. You won’t find it on the bottom shelf.
Don’t buy it because it’s cheap. You want polyphenols? You want oleic acid? Then pay a few extra bucks and get the real stuff. Even the good stuff will cost about 50 cents a day. $15 dollars a month for far better health.
The Daily Ritual of Revolution
Now, again, twice a day—two tablespoons in the morning, and two again in the evening. Four tablespoonfuls’ in total. A modest gesture. But inside the human body, it sets off a kind of quiet revolution. First, the heart notices. The bad fats in your blood—called LDL—begin to drop, while the good ones—HDL—gently rise.
Your blood vessels, once stiff and grumpy, begin to relax.
Then, the immune system, which is often prone to overreacting (much like a small dog barking at thunder), begins to calm down. This is inflammation, and it is at the root of many ailments.
The brain, too, is grateful. Oxidative stress and inflammation wear down memory and cognition over time. But here, we see a reversal—a slowing of decline, and perhaps even a sharpening.
Even your liver, which is horribly overworked and rarely thanked, finds help. The oil improves fat metabolism, aids detoxification, and supports the flow of bile, which is vital for digestion.
Meanwhile, your gut lining—so often abused by poor diet—is soothed and strengthened.
And what about the cells themselves? Well, inside every one of your trillions of cells, the membranes become more fluid, more stable. The DNA—the little blueprints of you—is shielded from harm by polyphenol. So you see: a small act, performed daily, results in large and measurable benefits across the entire body. That is not an anecdote. It is mechanism. And it is rather beautiful, isn’t it?
