Bitter Hero #1: Olives
Understand the inner workings of the almighty olive and what it will do for your life.
Olives are nature’s bitter grape, one that boasts with a giant blow hole in the middle. While you may think they’re a fruit that perfectly embodies the Mediterranean diet, olives were in fact scoffed by Africans 100,000 years ago. Okay, so probably not in prehistoric martinis but enjoyed to a degree where olive trees were finally domesticated some 93, 000 years later. Some people take a while to warm up to certain foods.
Since the olives you eat are almost always pickled, you tend not to think of them as bitter. Just try eating a raw one off a tree and you’ll find your pupils dilating like a cracked glowstick. Despite their challenging taste, olives have been sundowner snacks for at least seven centuries. So, what gives? Their acquired taste has been enjoyed by those who seemed to live the longest, so this may speak to their health virtues. Here’s the science on why they got it right.
What Are Olive’s Benefits
1. Olives Diabetes’ Natural Enemy
They’re the perfect haymaker to the sugar cancer: diabetes. A paper found this is because olives have oleuropein that helps your body produce more insulin which controls your metabolism and is anti-diabetic. Fortunately, you can’t in good conscious sugar coat olives, limiting your diabetic temptation issues.
2. Ventricle Protection Agents
Olive oil producers slap that little love heart on their bottles for good reason. Drinking 7g of olive oil a day lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer mortality, neurodegenerative disease and respiratory disease, says research. Most superfoods are balloons of high expectations punctured by reality, but olives are the exception that fulfils all expectations.
3. Fats That Put You in The Blue Zone
Nonna stuck around for good reason. The fats in olive oil activates a pathway in cells that helps you live longer and fight aging. They’re the easy way to live to a ripe age so you can smoke trees and feed grandkids enough sugar to show up a drug test.
4. A Kick in the Plums to Dementia
If you want to think stronger, you have to eat strong flavors. Olive oil does just that by shielding you against cognitive decline and preserving your memory. Think of this oil as backing up your memories to the cloud, hopefully it leaves out the times when you wore ripped pants in public.
5. A Marble Strength Skeleton
Olives slap some steel in your spine by making your bones stronger than those Greek statues who can’t hold onto their heads. Research found a high olive oil intake is linked to lower incidences of osteoporosis and bone fractures. If you want to stand tall, olives extend the branch to those intentions.
The Olive Connection
Olives aren’t something everyone loves. Most kids will spit them out. This is always the best indicator of a healthy food you should eat. They’re versatile to cook with and go hand in hand with an excellent Shiraz while making sure your body, mind and soul are in the rudest possible health. How many olives should you eat each day? At least 10, one for every finger, more if you can pick up a tea towel with your feet and use your toes as hands.