Striving4Zen

Olives cannot be eaten right off of the tree; they require special processing to reduce their intrinsic bitterness. These processing methods vary with the olive variety, region where they are cultivated and the desired taste, texture and color.
Some olives are picked green and unripe, while others are allowed to fully ripen on the tree to a black color. Yet, not all of the black olives available begin with a black color. Some processing methods expose unripe greens olives to the air, and the subsequent oxidation turns them a dark color. In addition to the original color of the olive, the color is affected by fermentation and/or curing in oil, water, brine or salt.

Olives are very nutrient-rich, containing heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, and antioxidant phytonutrients, including polyphenols. With all of that goodness, it's no wonder that olives play a central role in the Mediterranean Diet, which has been found to promote vitality and offer protection against a host of different diseases.

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Labels: healthy diet, healthy snacks, Mediterranean Diet, monounsaturated fat, olives

Olives cannot be eaten right off of the tree; they require special processing to reduce their intrinsic bitterness. These processing methods vary with the olive variety, region where they are cultivated and the desired taste, texture and color.

Some olives are picked green and unripe, while others are allowed to fully ripen on the tree to a black color. Yet, not all of the black olives available begin with a black color. Some processing methods expose unripe greens olives to the air, and the subsequent oxidation turns them a dark color. In addition to the original color of the olive, the color is affected by fermentation and/or curing in oil, water, brine or salt.

Olives are concentrated in monounsaturated fats and a good source of vitamin E. Because monounsaturated fats are less easily damaged than polyunsaturated fats, it's good to have some in our cells' outer membranes and other cell structures that contain fats. The stability of monounsaturated fats translates into a protective effect on the cell that, especially when combined with the antioxidant protection offered by vitamin E, can lower the risk of damage and inflammation. In addition to vitamin E, olives contain a variety of beneficial active phytonutrient compounds including polyphenols and flavonoids, which also appear to have significant anti-inflammatory properties.

They are also a good source of iron, copper, and dietary fiber.

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Labels: monounsaturated fat, olives, Vitamin E

If you think you're getting the full benefits of olives by including a little olive oil in your salad dressing, think again. Researchers in Heidelberg, Germany have looked at all different types and forms of olives-including black olives, green olives, extra virgin olive oil, and refined virgin olive oil-and brining processes used in the olive industry, and their results tell us that there are even more potential health benefits in olives than previously thought.

But to get all of these health benefits, you'll probably need to expand the forms and types of olives that you include in your Healthiest Way of Eating. For example, suppose you've been a devoted fan of green olives, but you have never ventured out into the black olive category. In this case, you are missing out on the type of whole olive with the greatest concentration of phenolic antioxidants and the greatest antioxidant capacity! Including some black olives in your Healthiest Way of Eating is going to increase your health benefits in this regard.

Or suppose that you only eat whole olives, and you have traditionally considered olive oil to be of little value when it comes to health. In this case, you're missing out on some particular antioxidants (like secoiridoids and lignans) that are especially concentrated in the oil. And you won't be able to settle for refined virgin olive oil, either. By insisting on extra virgin olive oil, you'll be doubling or tripling your intake of these unique antioxidants! (Since the processing of olives into oils can concentrate the olives' fat, it can also concentrate some of their fat-soluble nutrients. In addition, certain steps in the production process allow nutrients in different parts of the olive to combine with the oil, once again allowing olive oil to become more concentrated in certain nutrients.)

The olives you might want to focus less attention on are those prepared using the Spanish brining process. According to the research results of this study, this process seemed to take too great a toll on some of the phenolic antioxidants found in olives.

What potential health benefits might be associated with a greater emphasis on consuming extra virgin olive oil and an array of different types of olives? Researchers in this study concluded that olive oil and olives were very likely to be an even greater reason for the cancer-protective effects of the Mediterranean diet than previously suspected-and more specifically, more important for protection against breast and colorectal cancer, and in a somewhat surprising finding, against skin cancer as well.

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Labels: Anti-oxidant, eating healthy, health food, healthy diet, olive oil, olives

Ten olives contain about 50-80 calories, depending primarily on their size. (Jumbo olives weigh about twice as much as small olives). This amount of calories is minimal when we think about the calories usually consumed during snacking. Yet, the fact that olives are a good snack option is not just limited to their being low in calories. You also get a wealth of nutrients for those calories. Olives are very nutrient-rich, containing heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, and antioxidant phytonutrients, including polyphenols. With all of that goodness, it's no wonder that olives play a central role in the Mediterranean Diet, which has been found to promote vitality and offer protection against a host of different diseases.

Labels: health food, nutrition, olives