Olives --The Fruit

(Extraction from whfoods.org)

Health Benefits

Olives are a very good source of 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, such as the membranes that surround the cell's DNA and each of its energy-producing mitochondria. 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, that also appear to have significant anti-inflammatory properties.

Cellular Protection Against Antioxidants

Vitamin E is the body's primary fat-soluble antioxidant. It goes after and directly neutralizes free radicals in all the fat-rich areas of the body. In combination, stable monounsaturated fats and vitamin E add a significant safety factor to cellular processes like energy production, a process that generates free radicals even when things are running smoothly.

When cellular processes such as mitochondrial energy production are not well protected, the free radicals produced can interact with and damage any nearby molecules--a process called oxidation. When a cell's mitochondria become damaged, the cell cannot produce enough energy to supply its needs and dies. If a cell's DNA becomes damaged, the cell may mutate and become cancerous.

Protection From Cancer & Heart Disease

Free radical damage can lead to numerous ailments. For example, when free radicals cause the oxidation of cholesterol, the oxidized cholesterol damages blood vessels and builds up in arteries, and can eventually lead to heart attack or stroke. So, by preventing the oxidation of cholesterol, the nutrients in olives help to prevent heart disease.

If free radicals damage the cellular DNA in colon cells, the cells can mutate into cancer cells. By neutralizing free radicals, the nutrients in olives help prevent colon cancer. A higher intake of both vitamin E and the monounsaturated fats in olives is actually associated with lower rates of colon cancer.

Beneficial Anti-Inflammatory Effects

The anti-inflammatory actions of the monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and polyphenols in olives may also help reduce the severity of asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, three conditions where most of the damage is caused by high levels of free radicals. The vitamin E in olives may even help to reduce the frequency and/or intensity of hot flashes in women going through menopause.

History

Olives, one of the oldest foods known, are thought to have originated in Crete between five and seven thousand years ago. Their use quickly spread throughout Egypt, Greece, Palestine and Asia Minor.

Olives are mentioned in the Bible, depicted in ancient Egyptian art, and played an important role in Greek mythology. Since ancient times, the olive tree has provided food, fuel, timber and medicine for many civilizations. It has also been regarded as a symbol of peace and wisdom. Olive oil has been consumed since 3000 BC.

Olives were brought to America by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers during the 15th and 16th century. They were introduced into California by the Franciscan missionaries in the late 18th century. Today, much of the commercial cultivation of olives occurs in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

References

Aguilera CM, Ramirez-Tortosa MC, Mesa MD, Gil A. [Protective effect of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids on the development of cardiovascular disease]. Nutr Hosp 2001 May-2001 Jun 30;16(3):78-91.

Bond R, Lloyd DH. A double-blind comparison of olive oil and a combination of evening primrose oil and fish oil in the management of canine atopy. Vet Rec 1992 Dec 12;131(24):558-60.

Ensminger AH, Ensminger, ME, Kondale JE, Robson JRK. Foods & Nutriton Encyclopedia. Pegus Press, Clovis, California.

Ensminger AH, Esminger M. K. J. e. al. Food for Health: A Nutrition Encyclopedia. Clovis, California: Pegus Press; 1986.

Fortin, Francois, Editorial Director. The Visual Foods Encyclopedia. Macmillan, New York.

Martinez-Dominguez E, de la Puerta R, Ruiz-Gutierrez V. Protective effects upon experimental inflammation models of a polyphenol-supplemented virgin olive oil diet. Inflamm Res 2001 Feb;50(2):102-6.

Martinez-Dominguez E, de la Puerta R, Ruiz-Gutierrez V. Protective effects upon experimental inflammation models of a polyphenol-supplemented virgin olive oil diet. Inflamm Res 2001; 50(2): 102-6.

Owen RW, Haubner R, Mier W et al. Isolation, structure elucidation and antioxidant potential of the major phenolic and flavonoid compounds in brined olive drupes. Food Chem Toxicol 2003 May; 41(5):703-17.

Visioli F, Romani A, Mulinacci N, et al. Antioxidant and other biological activities of olive mill waste waters. J Agric Food Chem 1999 Aug;47(8):3397-401.

Wood, Rebecca. The Whole Foods Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Prentice-Hall Press; 1988.

Olive Oil

Overview

Olive oil consists of monounsaturated fatty acids, which promote the good HDL blood cholesterol while inhibiting the harmful LDL blood cholesterol. There is no cholesterol in olive oil itself. Studies have found that olive oil significantly reduces the risk of stroke, stomach cancer, heart disease, heart attacks, and other cancers. Olive oil seems to also protect the bones, joints, skin, liver and heart.

Olive oil in the Mediterranean diet
In the 1960s, it was found that the people of Greece (Crete) consumed a great deal of salt and fat (but also a lot of plant foods). They were living longer than the Japanese, who were also eating a lot of salt but whose diet was low in fat and lower in plant foods.

The people of Crete lived longer because they had lower rates of stroke, stomach cancer, heart disease and other cancers. Researchers also noticed that people living in countries around the Mediterranean had a lower incidence of heart disease, despite their high intake of mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive oil. This led to investigations into what is known as 'the Mediterranean diet', of which olive oil is a major part.

Research supports the health benefits of olive oil
Recent studies into the health benefits of olive oil have found that it can lower the risk of coronary heart disease by reducing blood cholesterol levels. According to one study, a person's risk of fatal heart attack is halved in just two to four years once they switch to 'the Mediterranean diet', which includes using olive oil as the main dietary fat, increasing vegetable intake, and limiting meat and dairy foods. Research has also found that olive oil may influence body fat distribution, with less fat stored around the stomach.

Dietary fats
There are three types of fat: saturated, polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated (these terms describe the type of chemical bonding between the atoms). Each type consists of fatty acids, which are chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms, in varying combinations. Both polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats can lower blood cholesterol levels. Olive oil is a mono-unsaturated fat.

Types of olive oil
Generally, olive oil is extracted by pressing or crushing olives. Olive oil comes in different varieties, depending on the amount of processing involved. Varieties include:

• Extra virgin - considered the best; this oil comes from the first pressing of the olives
• Virgin - from the second pressing
• Pure - undergoes some processing, such as filtering and refining
• Extra light - undergoes considerable processing and only retains a very mild olive flavour.

Blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis
Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) is considered the 'bad' cholesterol. This is because it can stick to artery walls and cause atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.

Studies into LDL cholesterol have suggested that oxidation is an important step in the development of atherosclerosis. It seems that mono-unsaturated fats reduce the capacity of LDL cholesterol to oxidise, which may explain the protective properties of olive oil. However, extra virgin olive oil also contains around 40 antioxidant phytochemicals. Antioxidants have been associated with reduced oxidation of LDL cholesterol, so perhaps these phytochemicals are the factors responsible for the health benefits.

Blood fats
Once a fatty meal is eaten, it takes the liver around six to 12 hours to scour dietary fats from the blood and change them into compounds such as LDL and HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol.

There is evidence that this six to 12 hour period may be a crucial contributing factor in atherosclerosis. Mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil are cleared from the blood much faster than saturated fats, and this reduces the window of opportunity for the development of atherosclerosis. Mono-unsaturated fats also help to prevent the blood from becoming sticky after a fatty meal and forming dangerous clots.

Researchers compared the weight loss results from one group of people, following 'the Mediterranean diet', to another group who were sticking to low fat and high carbohydrate diets. They found that those following the Mediterranean diet shed excess pounds from both the upper and lower body, but the other group mainly lost fat from the lower body. People who store their body fat around the waist and abdomen ('apple shaped') have a higher risk of heart disease than those people who carry their weight at the hips and thighs ('pear shaped').

Olive Leaf Extract

Overview

Olive leaves offer the one, true, natural and nontoxic way to eliminate illnesses arising from viruses, bacteria, fungi, yeasts, protozoa, worms, flukes, and other parasites. Ingredients in olive leaves work against those specific microbes causing herpes infections, skin diseases, candidiasis, malaria, arthritis, heart trouble, flu, and even the common cold. Such olive leaf ingredients are now available as a single extract processed into a supplement.

Effective Ingredient

Oleuropein, the powerful germ killer in olive leaf extract, has been used as a cure-all for thousands of years among those populations bordering the Mediterrean. The people didn't know why brewed olive leaf tea worked, but it did reduce their rates of infection. Oleuropein is a phenolic compound and the source of disease-resistant characteristics of the olive tree. Finally, its remedial properties have been recognized by herbalists and holistic health practitioners as a totally effective, completely safe, and truly remarkable all-natural healer of microbial infections. Olive leaf extract is nature's answer to the medical profession's creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Therapeutic Benefits of Olive Leaf

• It strengthens the body's immune system.
• It's the curative for malaria and other protozoan diseases.
• It helps block the growth of viral diseases such as HIV, Epstein Barr, cytomegalovirus, genital herpes, shingles, cold sores, and retrovirus.
• It helps stop sore throats, sinusitis, rhinitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
• It reduces the symptoms of Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, yeast syndrome, fibromyalgia, athlete's foot, and jock itch.
• It helps produce substantial energy increases.
• It helps maintain proper blood pressure and improves cardiovascular health.
• It helps to kill parasites, relieves food poisoning, Candida, yeast and fungal infections.
• It helps heal skin problems, such related to psoriasis and eczema.

In all Balkan countries plus Russia, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, olive leaf extract is extensively employed as a broad-spectrum germ killer.

Safety

Because the olive leaf is merely a bitter-tasting vegetable able to be brewed as a green tea, or eaten in green salad, ingesting it is absolutely safe. When taking olive leaf extract, the body begins to deal with dead microbes. One may experience minor irritations ? this is the detoxification effect, a positive sign. One might feel a little ill or develop a minor skin reaction. This occurs as invading organisms die. Dead microbes release toxins and other substances. When large quantities of dead microbes are present, the body begins a process of eliminating them. The best way to maximize the power of Olive Leaf Extract and limit any adverse reaction is to drink four cups of water in between usages. For more than minimal discomfort, one can reduce the daily intake of Olive Leaf Extract. One can even stop intake for a short time for the body to remove the toxins and dad microbes. The detoxification effect is temporary. After this, one should begin to feel substantial energy.

Note:
Olive Leaf Extract has been tested and found to be safe in amounts for higher than the normal daily amount. Scientific testing indicates that amounts many times larger than the daily-recommended usage are not toxic and do not cause adverse side effects.

History

The discovery of its medicinal use happened in 1996. When the olive leaps main therapeutic components are extracted, ground into powder, packaged into capsules or tablets, and taken as a supplement, their antimicrobial effects become more potent. They kill germs fast. Cold or flu symptoms, for instance, are known to disappear within one day. If you wish to help prevent colds or flu from occurring, just make olive leaf extract a part of your daily nutritional supplementation.

Effectiveness Against Pathogens

Olive leaf extract has been shown effective against the following viruses, retroviruses, bacterium, parasites, yeasts, protozoan, fungi, molds, and other microbes and diseases as demonstrated in laboratory testing including the Paper Disk Bioassy method: