Olive and Olive Oil

Olive tree is one of the longest living trees in the world. The average lifespan of an olive tree is 300-400 years. The oldest living tree is 3 thousand years old and is located in Crete.

Olive oil, also known as the elixir of the immortal tree or liquid gold, is greenish and yellowish oil, obtained by processing the fruit of the olive tree, naturally produced in vegetable oils by physical methods and can be consumed at room temperature.

Olive, which is the raw material of olive oil, requires quite a lot of hand work during its production. The whole process of the healthy fruit juice, from grain to the stage of obtaining, is very essential in every respect with its superior nutritious value compared to other seed oils.

The history of olive oil dates back thousands of years, along with the olive tree which is indigenous to the Aegean and Mediterranean climates, and the tree is thought to have first appeared on the island of Santorini in Greece. Therefore, the olive tree and olive branches becoming an inspiration to many mythological and historical events, make up an important part of the Mediterranean Culture. History points out that the most distinct traces of olive oil production go back to the civilizations that lived in the Mediterranean around 4500 B.C. The Cretans played the most vital role in spreading the culture of olive oil to other clans in the Mediterranean, and this quest continued for about 3000 years. The most vivid proof of the olive oil trade dominated by the Cretans, who had powerful merchant fleets, are the two-meter olive oil jars found amongst the ruins of the Knossos and Faistos Palaces. On the tablets found along with these giant jars, there is information about where the olive oil trade of that time was made and where the olive oil was produced.

The olive tree owes its lengthy life span to the antioxidants it contains, which have cell renewing properties, and these antioxidants are called polyphenols. Polyphenols, as antioxidants, have the potency to neutralize free radicals formed in the human body due to various reasons. There is evidence that polyphenols delay the aging of the cells. The polyphenols produced by olives also ensure the olive tree to live for long years to come. Polyphenols are found in most of the food but our bodies can only use some of these components. Drinking olive oil in the morning is very useful for balancing the appetite, protecting the digestive system and taking the cell-protective antioxidants into our bodies. In the high polyphenol olive oil, which is consumed as 20 ml before breakfast, beneficial components are easily absorbed by our bodies.

It is widely known that olive oil accelerates the digestive system and metabolism and helps to lose weight. In addition to this, it is always one step ahead of the numerous other types of oil, as it is rich in vitamins E, A and K, iron, calcium, potassium, amino acids and oleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid.

Thanks to the diversity and benefits it possesses, olive oil; besides being used in the food industry, it has also been used in areas such as soap, cosmetics and medicine throughout history. Also known as “natural functioning food”, olive oil plays an essential role in human health thanks to its phenolic components, antioxidants, tocopherols and vitamin E in its chemical structure. Because it is rich in unsaturated fats, it helps to balance the cholesterol levels in the blood. It is known that it is extremely beneficial to the digestive system and at the same time is good for diabetes by means of reducing blood sugar levels. Olive oil is rich in polyphenols with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. As a result, it has been approved through research that its use prevents the growth of pathogenic bacteria and is beneficial for infectious diseases caused by these bacteria.

These healing effects of olive oil were also discovered by ancient civilizations, and the fumes of olive oil were smoked and inhaled in the nose in the treatment of headache, coughs, some skin diseases and poisoning, and on the other hand, it contributed a great deal in the treatment of stomach diseases by being used in boiling water.

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