Olive
Oil - "God's Elixir"
 |
Olive
oil is the most used fruit juice drained from a plant. T was used
by the Mediterranean people for four thousand years in different
kinds of ways, from a payment mean to medical purposes, and during
the last twenty years the rest of the world has been discovering
it. It is one of the main contains in cosmetics; you can burn
it, grease creaky doors with it, wash and clean with it. It is
being used for polishing diamonds. Kings, new-born babies and
dying persons have been anointed with it for centuries. It is
full of vitamin E and does not contain cholesterol. It is excellent
for preserving food: fish, cheese, even wine stay for years unspoiled.
Until recently, olive oil sounded too exotic to people who are
far away from the Mediterranean, it was to them something that
is being eaten only in strange ethnic dishes. It was unjustified
pronounced as "heavy", and that was mostly because it
was of bad quality and often mixed with almost anything, from
animal fat to glycerin! But, after during the seventieth a new
survey was published, western folks began to discover and appreciate
olive oil. The survey showed that the Mediterranean people have
the lowest grade of heart diseases among Western population, and
this fact they can just give thanks to the free use of olive oil.
Olive oil is rich with unsated fat, that are "healthy"
fat, and antioxidants, as well, that prevent the congestion of
blood veins. So during the eighties the Western people included
slowly olive oil into their everyday diet.
The
History of Olive tree
The Mediterranean people have considered olive oil as sacred for
thousands years. The Old Egyptians believed that the goddess Isis
transmitted the knowledge of growing and usage of olives to the
people. In the Greek mythology the goddess Athens is mentioned
as the one who conveyed this holy plant to the people, after she
won in the competition among gods about who would introduce this
most appreciated gift to the people. The Bible mentions the olive
tree and olive oil on thousands of places, from usage of olive
oil as fuel for lamps, anointment, or as a mean of payment. The
farmers of the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean naturalized
the wild olive tree around the year 4000 B.C., and with the production
of olive oil they started two thousand years after that. The Fenitian
trades transmitted the olive growing to Greece and Spain, and
the Greek brought it to the Italian.
Olive
oil and health
Olive oil contains 77% unsated fat acid that diminish cholesterol,
and that is "bad" cholesterol, the so-called LDL cholesterol,
and it protects the good one - the HDL cholesterol. Fat is a very
important food in the human diet because it contains the essential
vitamins - A, D, and K - and it is an excellent energy source
for our organism. But numerous surveys are pointing out the benefit
of the exchange of sated and complex sated fat with unsated fat.
Olive oil contains only 4 to 12% complex sated fat, that, when
they oxidize can lead to congestion of blood veins. For example,
olive oil contains only 9% salted fat acid, whilst corn oil contains
over 50% and sunflower oil even 69%! The other two ingredients
of olive oil that are important for our health are vitamin E,
whilst poliphenols diminish the risk of arteriosclerosis and some
kinds of cancer! There are some indications that olive oil has
a therapeutic effect on ulcer on digestion organs and that it
prevents the appearance of gall-stones. The Greek women use olive
oil in skin and hair masks; it is an excellent treatment for burns;
we know that in Croatia our women use it as suntan lotion for
decades, and even it was doubted for a long time about its effects,
dermatologists today state that it has the UV protection factor
20!
Virgin
Olive oil
 |
The
best kind of olive oil is virgin olive oil (extra virgin), and
there are still many subclasses depending on taste and need. It
is important for the quality of olive oil that is contains less
than 1% fat acid, and that it is "cold pressed" (that
should be taken into consideration when buying olive oil because
every producer has to point out these qualities on the etiquette).
Namely, that is the name of the procedure of obtaining olive oil
by pressing olives without the usage of any kind of dissolutions
or heating. We know that most of the other plant oils are obtained
by heating and adding some sort of dissolution, and that effects
considerably their quality and nourishment values. Although techniques
of obtaining olive oil have modernized considerably, the simple
procedure in fact stays the same: the whole olive is being pressed
(with its kernel!), the liquid is being separated from the dry
substance, and then water is being separated from oil. What you
get are, on one side, billions of sour cores, and, on the other
side, the "God's elixir".
