Hi, this is Nadine from Cambridge in the UK and I just want to say how much I love Dr. Gundry’s podcast. It’s great insights and, um, I love all the advice that’s given. It’s made me so much more aware of my intake. I’m borderline type two diabetics, so it’s highly relevant. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

Well, it’s National Polyphenol Day and week and this week it’s all about polyphenol. So how about eight weird ways that olive oil can supercharge your health? Let’s get into it. Something exciting is coming up very soon. National Polyphenol Day is July 11th and my 76th birthday. And I’ll be celebrating the only way I know how with a shot of my polyphenol rich olive oil. It’s how I’ve stayed sharp, strong, and feeling better than ever. Join me. Take your shot, post it, and tag me at Dr. Stephen Gundry. Let’s celebrate together. Now you probably have a bottle of extra virgin olive oil in your kitchen right now, but I bet that everything you’re using it for is only one thing and that’s cooking and salad dressings. But today I’m gonna show you some unexpected science-backed ways to get this golden liquid transforming your health in some weird ways and none of it involves a salad.

(01:44)
All right, number one, oil pulling. Believe it or not, this is a 3,000 year old mouthwash. What you do is you swish one to two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in your mouth for five to 10 minutes on an empty stomach and you pull it through your teeth, oil pulling. Now, spit it out, but quite frankly, if you wanna swallow it, it not gonna hurt you and might help you. Now, what we’re learning about the mouth is that the mouth has its own microbiome and there are some actually nasty bacteria that can literally get into your bloodstream and set up shop among other places in your brain in your coronary arteries and that doesn’t sound like a good idea. So the polyphenols in olive oil are very useful to supplement your oral microbiome with good stuff. And you’ll find that if you make this a part of your practice, when next time you go to the dentist, they’ll be shocked about how healthy your gums look just from olive oil pulling.

(03:03)
Number two, gargle olive oil before you go to bed. Now, olive oil is a really great lubricant for your upper airway passages. So if your significant other accuses you of snoring, why not do her him a favor and have some olive oil in the bathroom, gargle it before you go to bed, spit it out or swallow it, I don’t care. It actually is going to lubricate your throat. Now remember, snoring is not just an annoyance. Snoring is usually a sign of airway obstruction and/or sleep apnea. And if you’re a snorer and it’s a constant thing, not only do you want to gargle olive oil, but if that isn’t improving things, you really need to get a sleep study. You’d be shocked how snoring and sleep apnea affects your heart, affects your brain, affects your functioning during the day. So do not ignore snoring, but try the trick of olive oil first.

(04:20)
Now, remember, it’s a topical agent for skincare. The Egyptians used it as skincare. Cleopatra bathed in olive oil. Sophia Loren, the great Italian beauty, credits olive oil on her skin for her great complexion, and she also eats a lot of olive oil. And it’s smart biochemistry. There’s a really cool polyphenol called hydroxytyrosol. It’s one of the most potent antioxidants that’s ever been described. In fact, it outperforms vitamin C and E in free radical scavenging. So squaline in extra virgin olive oil mirrors what young skin produces naturally. In other words, it replenishes what age takes away. So use it as an overnight face oil, a body moisturizer, or on rough patches. And a few drops actually goes a very long way. How about brain protection? Now, the data is actually jaw dropping. Auburn University study used 30 mls of extra virgin olive oil a day for six months.

(05:34)
It improved clinical dementia ratings with an MRI confirmation that brain functioning actually got better with just 30 mls of olive oil per day for six months. The participants showed improved memory, improved attention span, and executive function for over two years once the study was continued. Now, extra virgin olive oil inhibits amyloid beta aggregation. That’s a key Alzheimer’s hallmark. Now, I happen to think it does that by improving the gut microbiome and improving the wall of the gut. If you got leaky gut, you got leaky brain. And remember, there is a gut-brain access as I’ve talked about in the gut-brain paradox. The extra virgin olive oil feeds friendly microbes that communicate directly with the neurons in the vagus nerve up to the brain. And so it is a brain food as well as anything else.

(06:50)
One thing I never compromise on is the quality of the protein I eat. That’s why I like ButcherBox. They deliver premium protein right to your door with over 100 options. Now, of course, my favorite is wild-caught seafood. Everything is responsibly sourced with no antibiotics, no hormones, nor fillers, just clean, high-quality protein. I love having a variety of options on hand for quick wheat night meals or firing up the grill on weekends. And with ButcherBox, you can customize your box to fit exactly what your family enjoys. Right now, new listeners can choose between free rib eyes for a year or ground beef for chicken breast for life plus $20 off your first box. Head to butcherbox.com/gundry. That’s butcherbox.com/gundry for this special offer.

(07:51)
Now, how about ear health? It turns out you can put a couple of drops in your ear canal and it’ll actually soften up all the junk in there and it helps it exit naturally. Now please don’t soak a cotton ball or cotton tip applicator and put it in that way. All you’re going to do is push the crud closer to your eardrum. Just warm it up a little bit, get a dropper and put a couple drops and hold it in your ear. There was a 2003 study that extra virgin olive oil with antimicrobial herbs reduced ear infection related pain in children. That’s a good idea. Now, listen, if you have a hole in your eardrum, no, don’t do that, but most people don’t. So just hold it in your ear, turn your head to the side and hold it there for five minutes and then drain it out your ear.

(08:45)
Number six, joint pain. Believe it or not, rub it on your joints. It actually beats a prescription gel. Yes, I mean it. There was a double blind trial. A quarter of a teaspoon was rubbed of extra virgin olive oil was rubbed on knees three times daily, quarter of a teaspoon. And it actually outperformed the prescription gel in four weeks, the one you see advertised on TV every night. The benefit appeared within two weeks at a cost of less than three cents a day, probably less than that. So oleocanthal is a natural COX-2 inhibitor. COX-2 inhibition is how pain relief happens with these topical gels and also happens with, for instance, Advil or Aleve. The same pathway that these use, there’s no GI side effects and it’s used topically. Now, make sure you use the extra virgin olive oil only. The polyphenols once again are doing the work, not the oil.

(09:59)
And the higher the polyphenol content, the better it’s gonna work for you. All right, number seven, gut health. The Italian morning shot, as I say it. Now, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on an empty stomach every morning is an actual Italian centenarian ritual backed by science. It lubricates the intestinal wall. It stimulates bile and digestive enzymes and it actually promotes a healthy bowel rhythm. The oleic acid actually triggers oleoethyllamine. It’s a compound that signals gut motility naturally. Bonus, it actually reduces stomach acidity. It protects the gut lining and like I’ve talked about before, it really helps balance the good guys and bad guys in your gut. How about number eight? Scalp and dandruff treatment, the Italian grandma remedy. You massage warm extra virgin olive oil into your scalp. You massage it for five to 10 minutes. Leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes and then rinse.

(11:06)
Do it two to three times a week. Now it nourishes the scalp barrier. It softens dandra flakes without feeding the yeast and molds that actually makes dandruff. Now it’s packed with vitamins A, K, and of course, essential fatty acids. Exactly what a dry inflamed scalp really needs. Remember, what you’re seeing on your scalp is actually systemic inflammation appearing locally. Fix it both inside and out simultaneously. So should we be using high potency olive oil for non-ingestable uses like eardrops? Well, yeah. Mouth, rope, skin, ears, joints, gut, and scalp. What’s not to like? So how do you know you’re getting the right stuff? First of all, look for a harvest date. You should actually see when the oil was harvested. You don’t want best by date, you don’t want cell by date. You want harvest date. I’ll give you an example. Right on my high polyphenol olive oil.

(12:21)
Produced October 2025. This is the current vintage of olive oil. Produce. That means that’s when it was made and it’s on every bottle stamped on there. You gotta see that on your olive oil. You wanna see a single vineyard or a single country of origin. You don’t wanna see a blend of different countries. Just because it says product of Italy or product of grease does not mean the olive oil came from there. You actually need to see the country of origin. For instance, I know this vineyard. It’s in Morocco. I’ve walked it many times and there’s only one olive oil vineyard that produces these. That’s what you’re looking for. Eight superpowers all combined in extra virgin olive oil. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

(13:23)
Now it’s time for the question of the week. A question comes from @GRGamer8470 over on YouTube on my episode about broccoli. They asked, when I get fresh broccoli and put it in the fridge, I realize it changes color from green to purple. And when the plastic bag is wrapped around it, it turns yellow. What is the reason behind it? Well, number one, please don’t keep your broccoli in plastic bags. The plastic will leach chemicals onto your broccoli. Keep it in a glass container and report back. Now it’s time for the review of the week, review at Armano Gunzag 2223 over on YouTube on my episode about longevity. They said my wife went from 94 kilograms to 63 kilograms and kept it off for seven years. Dr. Gundry’s book was her handbook. Thanks, Dr. Gundry. Well, thank you for writing in. You know, this is why I do this.

(14:30)
Just two weeks ago, we were walking in a small town in the south of France and four Brits came walking up to us, two couples. Shouted out Dr. Gundry. And lo and behold, both couples told my wife and I how we had changed their lives. One gentleman that no longer has high blood pressure, the other one is off his statins and their doctors are incredulous that this could possibly happen. And I’m great to hear that it’s happening for you and again, that’s why I do this every day, every week to let you know there is hope. Thanks for writing.

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That’s a wrap on today’s episode. And before you go, I wanna leave you with on task. If anything you heard today made you think made you wanna dig deeper or gave you something you’re going to pass along to someone you care about, please take 15 seconds and leave a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I know that sounds small, but those reviews are how Apple and Spotify decide which shows to surface to new listeners and this show only grows when people who’ve never heard of it suddenly find it. That person finding this podcast today could hear something that genuinely improves their life or the life of someone they love, maybe even saves one. Everything I share here comes from my research when writing my next book and my clinics, where I’ve been seeing patients six days a week for over 25 years working with nutrition and supplements as the primary treatment.

(16:48)
This is real world medicine. Help me get it to more people and thank you. Truly thank you. I’m Dr. G and I’m always looking out for you.