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Olive oil 
Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 13:36:59 PM PST
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Homer called it "liquid gold." Olive oil has been more than mere food to us Mediterraneans: it's our way of life. The olive tree, symbol of abundance, glory and peace, gave its leafy branches to crown the victorious in both friendly games and bloody war. Olive crowns and olive branches, ancient emblems of benediction and purifiation, were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures but it is only in recent times that modern scientific research has proven over and over what the peasant wisdom knew a long time ago: its wonderful taste and health properties.
One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories and 14 grams of fat, but the fat is mostly monounsaturated and has a beneficial effect on blood cholesterol levels. It is no wonder that Mediterranean countries where olive oil is consumed extensively such as Greece, France, Italy and Spain, there is a low incidence of cardiovascular diseases. It also protects the body's digestive tract.
Cross-posted on the Evil Orange.
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Sat Jan 24, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PST
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USA Today just ran a fascinating but scary article: Something Fishy? Counterfeit Foods Enter the U.S. Market. Maybe you didn't enjoy melamine with your last meal, but did you eat what you thought you were eating? It turns out a lot of foods masquerade as more expensive foods these days.
This isn't terribly surprising to me, given what I've heard about cheese with milk protein concentrate (that's a fancy sounding word to mean the remains of milk after anything valuable has been removed... it's cheap and that's why they use it) and at one point there was some noise about re-defining chocolate so you could replace cocoa butter with cheaper ingredients.
Here's USA Today's list:
- Wild salmon: In a study, over half were actually farmed salmon.
- Red snapper: Sorry, it's usually actually tilapia.
- Olive oil: A percent of your oil may actually be a cheaper oil like soybean oil - or it might be olive oil, just a lower grade of it that is labeled and priced as extra virgin. (I recommend Temecula olive oil to make sure you're getting the real stuff)
- Honey: You might be getting beet sugar instead
- Maple syrup: This may be diluted with water or sugar
- Vanilla: Might actually be vanillin
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Discuss
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Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 09:04:43 AM PST
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The latest research on the wonders of olive oil sheds more light on the suspected association between olive oil-rich Mediterranean diets and reductions in breast cancer risk. Good quality extra-virgin olive oil contains health-relevant chemicals, 'phytochemicals', that can trigger cancer cell death.
Javier Menendez and Antonio Segura-Carretero led a team of researchers who set out to investigate which parts of olive oil were most active against cancer. Menendez said, "Our findings reveal for the first time that all the major complex phenols present in extra-virgin olive oil drastically suppress overexpression of the cancer gene HER2 in human breast cancer cells".
Additionally, I got another "good news" email, which confirmed what we Mediterraneans have known for a long time: you can curb hunger pangs with this simple snack: whole-grain bread dipped in olive oil. Like it or not, the body needs oil, so with olive oil you're not only eating the "least harmful" oil, you're eating a necessary nutrient.
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Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 13:00:23 PM PDT
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We Latins love and die by the olive. Anyone coming from the Mediterranean region of the world would tell you about the health benefits, as well as the wonderful flavor, of a good dose of olive oil on salads, pasta, fish and almost anything else. I can eat olives by the bucket.
Olive oil is made from the crushing and then subsequent pressing of olives. The fact that olives are rich in oil is reflected in the botanical name of the olive tree-Olea europea- since the word "oleum" means oil in Latin. Extra virgin olive oil is derived from the first pressing of the olives and has the most delicate flavor and most antioxidants.
In this diary I'll deal with the history, and the next one will be about the pressing and the final product.
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Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 05:27:02 AM PDT
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It's official! The Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of cancer by almost a quarter, according to a major study of people's eating habits. We Mediterranean folks have known this for some time.
So my question is: do you believe, like George Santayana, that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? Or would you believe, as did George Bernard Shaw, that all we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history?
Cross-posted on DKos
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