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Healthy Diet Plans >>
Therapeutic Value of Different Foods >>
Vegetables >>
Olives |
OlivesOlives come from the tree Olea europium. It has a high fat content as hinted in its Latin name Ilea, which means oil and Europoea which refers to its origins in Europe’s Mediterranean region. This is one of those ancient foods discovered five or seven thousand years ago and widely used in Egypt, Greece, Palestine and Asia Minor and later spread throughout the world. Today, it is commercially grown in Spain, Greece, Italy, and Turkey.
Basically, olives contain 75% oleic fat, a monounsaturated fat that lowers blood cholesterol levels. Unlike other fruits which can be eaten directly from the tree, olives cannot, because of its bitterness and the need for a special processing before it could be eaten.
Olives are harvested either green, unripe, or until it turns black on the tree. Surprisingly, not all black olives are black in color. The different processing methods as well as the fermentation and curing in oil, water, brine, or salt greatly affects the change in color of the olives from green to black, purple, brown, red, or yellow. Likewise, this also brings changes in its skin texture making it shiny, wrinkled, and smooth.
Olives are rated according to the degree of processing which they have undergone. From the first pressing come the extra-virgin and the virgin olive oil. The former is the original unrefined oil while the latter contains more acid but lesser phytonutrients delicate taste. Aside from this, the two are distinguished by the free oleic acid it contains which indicates its total acidity. The International Olive Oil Council maintains that “virgin” oil should have 2% free oleic acid and 0.8% for “extra virgin.” Pure virgin oil is generated from subsequent pressings which contain inferior quality oil.
There are many varieties of olives available in the market like the Moroccan oil-cured, Kalamata, Nicoise, Picholine, and Manzanilla. They not only differ in size and appearance but also in taste, like some which are sour, smoky, bitter, and acidic.
The monounsaturated fats contained by olives are excellent sources of vitamin E, which serves as a fat-soluble antioxidant, iron, copper, and dietary fiber.
These combined as well as other nutrients present, provide the following health benefits:
- Protects body cells against free radicals. Olives reduces the effect of free radicals in fatty areas in the body.
- Prevents heart disease. It averts the oxidation of cholesterol which destroys blood vessels clogging up the arteries leading to heart attacks or stroke.
- Prevents gastrointestinal ailments to include colon cancer.
Olives neutralizes free radicals thus preventing these ailments. The higher the intake of monounsaturated fats and vitamin E, the lower the risk of having colon cancer. - Lessens asthma attacks, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. These are the three body ailments caused by high levels of free radicals in the body.
- Aids in reducing the strength and regularity of hot flashes in women undergoing menopause.
Moreover, olives have different active phytonutrient compounds that include polyphenols and flavonoids which prevent inflammation and damage.
Olives can be prepared by pressing it so as to split the flesh for easy pit removal. The brine used as preservative in the container can be used as a substitute for salted water in various recipes.
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| Submitted on February 24, 2009 |
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