What exactly is olive? What is the difference between extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, and just plain old olive oil?

Olive cultivation started in the eastern Mediterranean around 6,000 years ago. Today, about ninety-nine percent of all the olive oil still comes from Mediterranean as well as Spain, Italy and Greece.

Olive oil comes from olive trees which are deep rooted and can survive for hundreds of years. The largest oil producer in the world is Spain where tons of trees grow from ancient stocks imported by the Phoenicians.

How is it made? First the entire olive is crushed including the pit. They separate the liquid from the solids and then the water from the oil.

In Italy, the growers pick olives by beating the branches with long sticks because it is a difficult process. Back in the Bible times, Israelites would beat the boughs of olive trees to pick the fruit and then told to leave the rest of them behind for any strangers, fatherless and widowed people.

Forty pounds of olives will produce only one gallon so it takes a lot of work to make it. There are many different types of oil and that is dependent on how it was made.

Extra virgin olive oil means it has not been altered or heated. It has less than one percent acidity and has been approved by professional tasters by having met the standards for flavor and aroma.

Virgin olive oil and plain olive oil are basically liquids that have been refined by chemical processes with some extra virgin added to it to give it a little more flavor and color. These oils are mixed together to produce a special taste and aroma.

Other than cooking, oil can be used for several other purposes. It can be burned for lamp light and was used for this reason for hundreds of years.

It can be used for washing. You can wash your baby with it, make soap from it (some people claim that it leaves you feeling cleaner than chemically made soap), use it as a hair tonic like some Arabs and East Indians, and use it to make the face shine.

It has been used to quiet squeaky hinges, to polish diamonds and boiled to make it a deadly weapon for war and torture. It can preserve fish, cheese and wine for years.

The biggest thing that people use it for today is in cooking. Ever been to an Italian restaurant where they put some oil on a plate and bread on the side to dip it in?

People in the Mediterranean have been using it on their bread forever and the rest of the world is just now catching on to how good it is. Not only can it add flavor to otherwise bland bread, it is considered to be pretty good for you.

Loaded with vitamin E, it also has no cholesterol. It is rich in monosaturated (good) fats and antioxidants.

These things help prevent the hardening of the arteries and as a result, Western nations that use olive oil have the lowest rate of heart disease. It helps keep the good cholesterol levels up and the bad cholesterol levels down.

Some studies have shown that it helps reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis and some forms of cancer. Foods that are fried in olive oil are able Viagra Jelly to retain more of its original nutritional value that food that are fried in other kinds of oil.

It has been shown that is prevents gallstones from forming. What are some other uses for this widely used substance?

For the past few thousand years, it has been used as a salve to put on wounds. It has also been used as a religious symbol in many different churches since biblical times.

The olive leaf was a symbol that meant peace and restoration to the people in Noah’s time after the devastating flood. It is still used today as a holy anointing oil to consecrate the priests and for various other healing purposed in many churches.

Author Bio: Jack R. Landry is a practicing Christian that has two passions in life. They are jewelry and Christian studies. For those that love jewelry, he recommends looking into Purity Rings.

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Jack R. Landry
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