Olives Nutrition: Why Are Olives Good for Your Health?

Something about Olives: Olives are one of the most popular plant foods of the world. Although, many people are commonly confused olives as vegetables but they are actually fruits. These fruits are very well known for their extraordinary health promoting properties. They are also a very popular beauty enhancing ingredient. Two main types of olives are black olives and green olives. Mostly unripe olives are green and fully ripe olives are black. But the colours of the olives are not based on the maturity of the fruits all the time. Colures can vary depending on the varieties of the fruits. Some of the popular varieties of olives are manzanilla, picholine, kalamata, nicoise, Liguria, ponentine, gaeta and sevillano.

Why are Olives Good for Your Health?

The olive tree is scientifically known as Olea europaea and it belongs to the family of Oleaceae. The genus of olive tree is Olea. Olives are native to the Mediterranean region and also some parts of Asia and Africa. Italy, Spain and Greece are very famous for producing very good quality of olives.

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Olives are very good sources of iron, fiber and copper. In addition, olives contain good amount of Vitamin E. Olives are a wonderful source of an omega-9 monounsaturated fatty acid which is called oleic acid. Olives are known for their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties come from the phytonutrients or phytochemicals of the olives. Olives contain many health promoting phytonutrients. Some of the well known and extremely nutritious phytonutrients in olives are ferulic acid, coumaric acid, oleanolic acid, tyrosol, luteolin etc.

Given below is the list of all the important phytonutrients of olives and their categories.

• Phenols: Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol
• Terpenes: Oleanolic acid, elenoic acid, oleuropein, demethyloleuropein, erythrodiol, ligstroside and uvaol.
• Flavones: Apigenin, luteolin
• Hydroxycinnamic acids: Caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, coumaric acid
• Anthocyanidins: Cyanidins, peonidins
• Flavonols: Quercetin, kaempferol
• Hydroxybenzoic acids: Gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid
• Hydroxyphenylacetic acids: Homovanillic acid, homveratric acid

This strong profile of phytonutrients is enough to believe that olives are great for the health. Also, they contain some very important conventional nutrients that provide numerous health benefits. Olive and extra virgin olive oil are excellent for boosting the overall health. Because of the fact that olives are a great source of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, they help to protect and prevent many dangerous diseases and conditions.

Some of the areas of health where olives can provide important health benefits are-

• Cardiovascular health
• Anti-cancer
• Nervous system
• Respiratory system
• Immune system
• Inflammatory system
• Digestive system

Olives and olive oil are very good for the skin and hair as well. Olives are a major part of the beauty regime.

Olive nutrition depends a lot on the factors like olive varieties and olive processing. Different varieties and different processing methods do change the nutrients density of the olives. Overall, olives are great for the health and regular intake of olives or olive oil can certainly protect the body from various diseases and conditions. Olives play major roles in Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean diet has long been associated with decreased risk of dangerous diseases especially heart diseases.