FIVE USES FOR OLIVE OIL YOU NEVER HEARD OF

Some other uses for olive oil (From the experts at AOL):

Olive oil is a great source of healthy fats, helping to lower cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular complications. However, a recent Men’s Health article listed five alternative uses for this healthy kitchen staple, many of which may come as somewhat of a surprise.

1. Remove Paint From Your Skin. No longer do you have to deal with the putrid stench of paint thinner to wash that lavender wall paint off your hands. Evidently, olive oil’s lubricant properties softens your skin and the paint itself, making it much easier to scrub away.

2. Ease Constipation. A doctor at the London Nutrition Clinic was quoted in the Men’s Health article as saying that taking two tablespoons of olive oil will soften your stools and make your sit-down session a bit more tolerable (well, that’s me paraphrasing what he said. His actual quote was far more charmingly British.)

3. Fight Bad Breath. Bacteria in your mouth is one of the main causes of raunchy breath. Rinsing once or twice daily with a tablespoon of olive oil will bind the bacteria together, helping to reduce the smell (and thus increasing your chances of finding a date for this weekend).

4. Hammer in a Nail. This isn’t exactly a health tip, but I suppose that depends on how skillful you are with a hammer. Anything that can help get that sucker into the wall faster (and thereby reducing the odds that you’ll smack your thumb) may actually carry enormous health benefits after all. At any rate, rubbing a nail with a small amount of olive oil will help ease it into a piece of wood.

5. Polish Wood Furniture. Again, not exactly a health tip in and of itself, but the ingredients of this DIY furniture polish sure are very healthy. Mix a glass of black tea or red wine with six tablespoons of olive oil and gently rub the mixture with a cloth over furniture.

Who knew? I sure as heck didn’t.