A new study on oleocanthal was recently published by a group of researchers from Taiwan. Oleocanthal is one of the more prominenet polyphenols found in high grade extra virgin olive oil. Oleo is Greek for olive and canth is Greek for prickly. Thus oleocanthal is primarily responsible for the prickly sensation when ingesting extra virgin olive oil by itself. Oleocanthal offers several benefits to several diseased states with its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective qualities. The study also found that oleocanthal proactively destroys cancer cells by damaging the lysosomes leading to cancer cell toxicity in vitro and in vivo. The study went one step further to establish that oils rich in oleocanthal had this effect where oils that were not did not have this effect. So the prickly sensation you feel from consuming our oils is very beneficial.