Olives: Natural Antihistimine

Did you know that the olive extracts function as antihistamines at a cellular level? In traditional herbal medicine practices, preparations from olive leaves and the olive are used in treating an array of inflammatory problems including allergy-related inflammation.


Olives are potent
 You may have heard the true story about Lorenzo’s Oil: a relentless quest for a cure by parents whose son was dying. One of the 2 main ingredients of Lorenzo’s Oil is olive oil and also rapeseed oil.

This is the extraordinary story of parents whose child was stricken with ALD (Adrenoleukodystrophy) a rare disease that produces a deadly, long fatty chain of fatty acids. The myelin (the insulating sheath around nerve fibers) in the central nervous system is lethally affected by this genetic mix-up of the fatty chain. 

Their child was dying, the parents tried desperately to find a cure, but could not find anyone who had a cure for ALD. Thus, they set out on a journey which they called the Myelin Project. With the help of forward thinking scientists, they finally came upon the cure, which turned out to be a therapy of olive oil and rapeseed.

I bring up the story of Lorenzo’s Oil in an entry about olives because integrating olive oil and olives into your diet can help greatly as  the benefits of olives and olive related products are not at all speculation. There is a lot of dependable research on olives and oleic phytonutrients.
                                                    
Allergy Attacks: If you are suffering an acute flare-up (wheezing, sneezing, fatigue, etc.)  Try olive leaf extract.

When you are having that allergic response, the histamine molecules inside your body are overproducing.  Olives and olive oil are renowned for their anti-inflammatory properties. The olive extracts have been shown to block specific histamine receptors (H1 receptors). This means that the olive helps to lessen the histamine response.

Allergy-Extinguisher

Don’t wait until you have a flare up, keep olives, and olive oil in mind as anti-inflammation tool. I like to think of olive oil as an allergic-response extinguisher, if you will, to maintain your body and live without, or at least surely improved, allergic-type responses.


The antioxidents compounds in olives are found to be extremely helpful in avoiding heart related diseases. Olives do contain fat but it’s the healthy mono-saturated fat that in fact will decrease the “bad” cholesterol. Convincing and thorough studies have found that consuming olives and olive oil will help avoid all kind of cardiovascular diseases: high blood pressure (hypertension) high cholesterol (hyperlipidemia) and olive oil can prevent strokes (cerebrovascular incident); one of the more feared and life changing cardiovascular diseases that can strike young and old- often seemingly out of the blue.

I use olive oil daily instead of butter to fry my eggs this way I get reduced bad cholesterol and get to have the extraordinary benefits of olive oil.

Bone mass healthy

According to the International Osteoperosis foundation, olive oil can benefit bone health. The research on the connection between olive oil and improved bone density is pointing to the benefits of oleuropein, a major compound (polyphenol) in olive leaves and olive oil. A diet rich in olive and olive oils correlates with a reduction in the bone loss that frequently results from age-related “osteoblast” and insufficient amount of bone marrow renewal.


Olive oil is high in antioxidants and natural squalene. I use olive oil as one of my natural oils for hair, skin and nails. 

I grew up in an Italian neighborhood and I still remember my neighbors' kids who passed on olive oil beauty beauty tips that had been used in their families for generations. I have used all of the following olive oil treatments and they are fantastic! I’ve also used the same tips replacing olive oil with coconut oil which I will write about in a separate blog entry. It's good to rotate the oils. 

Men and women alike will benefit:

Body Scrub:
Olive oil contains Vitamin E and it doesn’t clog pores. You can alternate between sugar or natural sea salt: combine the sugar/salt with olive oil (about a teaspoon per body parts) to create your homemade exfoliate.  Scrub your arms, legs, everywhere-gently. With the dead skin cells naturally sloughed off by your home-made scrub, you will love the smoothness and glow of your skin. I also use the scrub on my lips to smooth away the crackling skin on the lips as well.

Body moisturizer:  You can also replace your moisturizer and use organic olive oil anywhere including your skin. Pat on your body when you are still damp and you will seal in the hydration. Olive oil can also be used to remove make up as well. 

Hair treatment: I think this might be one of the most well known beauty tip of the Mediterranean world, Cleopatra has been purported to use olive oil for her hair. Warm the olive oil in the microwave. Apply to hair strands especially the ends of hair. Leave in for 20 minutes then go ahead with your usual shampoo routine. For extra treatment: after applying warmed oil on hair strands- use a plastic bag or saran wrap and place on the head to seal in the oil’s moisture treatment. The olive-oil deep treatment is a great way to keep hair soft.

Leg-shaving face-shaving: Olive oil has strong antimicrobial properties (especially virgin olive oils). They contain phenolic compounds that inhibit disease/ infection causing bacteria. It is safe to use instead of shaving cream. Your skin will love the emollient lubrication plus the healthful antioxidants that the olive oil has.  This natural skin treatment is a nice change from your chemically processed shaving-cream in a can. You can get a very close-shave that eliminates the shave-bumps.

Cuticles and nails: Heat up the olive oil in small glass bowl. Dip your fingers into the warmed oil (careful not to get it too hot) and leave your fingers and  hands in bowl for a few minutes. Next, remove fingers from the heated oil treatment and massage the oil around the cuticles and nails and especially the nail beds. Doing this olive oil treatment will get the brittleness out of the nails and will the treated cuticles will allow your nails to grow nicely. 

Olives and the Training Table: I cannot tell you enough how much olive oil belongs on the Training Table--- as much for great health as well as natural beauty treatment. I consider all things olive; olives, olive oils and olive extracts, to be a major anti-aging agent.

 A lot of lying with well know olive oil manufacturers:

A word of caution for you, I was very upset when I found out I have been buying inferior olive oil. You are likely to have already heard about this olive oil scandal- true consumer fraud-- and it's worth going on line to find out if your favorite olive oil is on the list. My expensive and nicely tricked- out packaged olive oil brand turns out was on the list.

There are several lawsuits against popular olive oil producing giants because of false labeling: olives purported to be from Italy were in fact not from Italy the olives had merely been packaged in Italy. And the biggest scam and most significant to me personally has been the lying about extra virgin oil labels.

Extra virgin olive oil is considered to be that the purest and healthier olive oil. Chemicals and high heat are not permitted in the production of extra virgin oils. It turns out that very well known names
have been mislabeling the more expensive product and so all this time I've been paying premium prices for an inferior product.

There is a lot of information about these olive oil lawsuits and it's well worth researching for yourself.  Olive Oil Times is a good source.

I am not providing a list of high scoring olive oils because companies are always changing, but the  web article "Which Olive Oils To Buy? The Olive Oil Fraud  from Real Food For Life is well worth a read.

Olives are a great asset to your Training Table.
























Comments

  1. Great stuff; around allergy season, I am always looking for alternatives to heavy-duty Benadryl (knocks me right out), so I'll definitely give the olive extract a shot.

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