The Benefits of Olive Oil

Olive Oil Uses The Tree of Life Making Health, Light and Husbands Faithful!

The olive tree ranks right up there with the dog as one of man’s best friends. Indeed, its special gifts to humans have been documented for at least 6,000 years and it is an olive branch that has become the global symbol of peace. The cultivated olive is from a tree known scientifically as olea europases, originally native to the eastern Mediterranean region.

The olive tree is a member of a plant family that includes the ash, jasmine and lilac. Today, it is widely cultivated throughout the whole Mediterranean area (98 percent of the world’s olive oil comes from there) and in other areas with a warm climate. The wood of the cultivated olive, being hard and variegated, is valued in cabinetry. If you have ever toured the Holy Land, you may have bought a souvenir made from olive wood. Greek mythology attributes the “creation” of the olive tree to the goddess Athena who first planted one among the rocks of Acropolis and endowed it with powers to illuminate the darkness, soothe wounds, provide nourishment.

According to the Bible, when Moses was atop Mt. Sinai, he received the divine recipe for making holy anointing oil – a mixture of myrrh, cinnamon, aromatic cane and olive oil. During the Roman Empire, olive cultivation and oil production advanced to a fine art – art that has survived largely intact for 2,000 years. So, too, have Roman recipes for the use of olives and olive oil in food. Olive oil illuminated Mediterranean houses well into the 19th century and it lubricated the machines of the industrial revolution just as it had served the Romans earlier as axle grease.

In Spain, some peasant women keep an olive branch strategically positioned in the house in the belief that it keeps husbands faithful and the wife master of the house.

Numerous folk medicine applications for olive oil have been described throughout history. They include: (1) Olive oil, mixed with an equal part of limewater, for burns. (2) Olive oil for the discomfort of teething and inflammations of mucous membranes. (3) To a quart of olive oil was added 200 centipede legs, a piece of snake’s skin, and the sprouts of a Spanish herb, the combination boiled down to a third and then used as a potion against paralysis. Hypocrites, the most celebrated physician of ancient times, recommended olive oil for curing ulcers, cholera and muscular pains. In more recent medical times, the health benefits of olive oil have received considerable attention.

Much research has been conducted on the connection between dietary fats and blood cholesterol. Olive oil, a so-called monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as corn, soybean and safflower all lower the artery-clogging low-density lipoproteins (the so-called LDL “bad cholesterol”). Which oil does a better job is moot, depending on the particular study you read. Many widely-published studies point to the consumption of olive oil by Mediterranean people’s as a major reason why they have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans.

Fats (oils are fats) are all combinations of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The term saturation refers to the number of hydrogen atoms a fatty acid carries. Fatty acids have different degrees of saturation and length, factors which determine whether a fat is solid or liquid at room temperatures. Saturated fats tend to be solid and relate primarily to animal sources such as butter and the fat in dairy and meat. What matters most, researchers say, is that you reduce the amount of saturated fat in your diet.

Animal studies suggest that large amounts of polyunsaturated vegetable oils can increase the risk of several types of cancer. Among them: breast cancer. Investigators at the Harvard School of Public conducted a survey of Greek women to determine if their high consumption of olive oil could also increase cancer risk. Their findings indicated that olive oil had an opposite effect. They reported that the breast cancer risk for women who consume olive oil more than once per day is reduced by 25 percent when compared to women who consume olive oil less frequently.

“Our work shows an association between consumption of a type of fat and reduced risk of breast cancer,” said Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, director of the study. “These findings suggest that the type of fat source one consumes may influence breast cancer risk in opposite directions.” Researchers all point out that people in Mediterranean areas eat more vegetables and fruit than Americans, foods that contain many natural substances beneficial for health. Studies have documented a beneficial effect of olive oil on blood pressure and blood glucose levels. For cooking purposes, olive oil is recommended over polyunsaturated vegetable oils. It is less susceptible to heat-caused oxidation that changes the chemical structure of the oil to a less nourishing and potentially harmful form.

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