My Olive Oil Experiment: 1

A few days ago I was reading reviews of books on Amazon and came across one (not sure which one it was now, but I'll try to find it and add the info in a future post) that encouraged readers to eat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil each night before going to bed. It gave several reasons that sounded good, if true, and they said they had research to back it up.

Although I had no intention of trying to swallow a tablespoon of olive oil, I thought I'd try upping my olive oil intake by pouring it on a slice of the super nutritious bread I'd baked a day or so before, and sprinkling a bit of grated parmesan on top, plus a bit of dried basil, just like one gets in some restaurants as a dip for the bread.

It tasted so good that I ate that instead of a sandwich for lunch, and for a before bed snack for about three or four days. I seemed to have a real craving for it, and felt better than I'd felt for some time. Today I ate the last two pieces of bread for lunch, with lots of olive oil, maybe more than I needed. It sort of satisfied the craving and left me wanting to counteract it with some grape juice or a raw carrot.

I felt lighter, and though I avoid weighing often, I was curious to see if I had lost some weight, so weighed myself, and I weighed two or three pounds less than before. And, I think that it has been a mood elevator for me too, just feel more together, more smooth and happy. That doesn't actually describe the difference very well, but the best I can do right now.

This evening, having eaten all the bread I'd made, and having had my fill of olive oil for today anyway, I decided to go to the grocery store and look around since I'd not been to the big one nearby for quite awhile. I wandered the aisles for quite awhile, began getting hungry, filling my cart with things that
appealed to me at the time, including some fresh asparagus, a couple of dessert items, and a bar of chocolate from Germany that I thought I'd taste test.

Well, after I got home I cooked and ate the asparagus. It was delicious. Then I ate an Amy's
burrito, and it was good, and a bit more nutritious food, not much more though. I still wanted to test taste the chocolate, and take a few bites of the other sweet things, just to see how they tasted.

But, I couldn't stand to eat them. I managed a small helping of one thing, and only two bites of another, and could not bear to eat the chocolate bar after the first couple of bites.

I can only attribute this to my olive oil and bread eating for the past few days. Someone else had written about a similar experience with eating more olive oil. They said it satisfied their appetite and they found themselves eating considerably less other foods. I not only ate quite a bit less, but just could not stand to eat the sweet foods. I could have eaten more vegetables or fruits, but the sugary things....ugh!.

Very interesting. I'm going to bake some more of that good bread, and continue my olive oil experiment. I'll be sharing more on what I discover from my own experience, and also my research.

Comments

[Fatinah]

very interesting. it sounds like the Shangri-La Diet. I'm just this week back on Weight Watchers (for the 100th time!), but they do tell us to have 2 servings of oil per day. Only tsp, mind you, BUT, I wondered if I took it the same way, if it would have any of the same effect?
Have a healthy day!

[Pat Gundry]

I think it does have some similarities to the Shangri-La Diet, but more with the Mediterranean Diet.

In an interview, the author of the Shangri-La Diet said the diet requires those following it to drink sugar water or olive oil between meals because they are essentially flavorless substances that provide calories. He evidently uses them to eliminate hunger in a way that will not prompt the dieters to eat more of a caloric substance because of its appealing taste.