Olive oil found
to inhibit spread of HIV

Olive oil has become an essential ingredient in the fight against HIV, according to a press release from Spain's University of Granada on Thursday.

Research performed by the Bionat team, headed by Prof. Andres Garcia-Granados, has found that maslinic acid--a product found naturally in dry olive-pomace oil--inhibits serin-protease, an enzyme used by the virus to release itself and spread through the whole body. The study determined that the use of olive-pomace oil can produce an 80% decrease in the spread of HIV.

In the press release Garcia-Granados and the Bionat team expressed their hope to develop an efficient way to produce and market new maslinic acid by-products to augment the fight against HIV. (The Advocate)