Olives are rich in vitamin A, an antioxidant that's essential for protecting the cornea and maintaining eye health. It can help fend off age-related eye problems such as macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma and, when it comes to skin, can help reduce wrinkles.
Olives also include vitamin E as well as the antioxidant compounds lutein and zeaxanthin, all of which offer additional eye- and skin-health support. Looking to reach a healthy weight? Olives can help here, too, thanks to those monounsaturated fats, which are linked to belly fat loss and better insulin sensitivity. To help curb appetite in a healthy way, before sitting down to lunch or dinner, try snacking on a small serving of olives.
The monounsaturated fatty acids plus a bit of fiber in the olives will help aid digestion and stimulate satiety hormones—so you'll feel fuller sooner. Got glutathione? If you eat olives, you sure will, according to several studies that measured significant increases in glutathione levels in the blood after eating olives. Glutathione is essential to energy production, so getting enough of the stuff can be the difference between a vibrant, active life and one that's anything but.
In addition, olives, particularly black olives, deliver a nice dose of iron, which is important for energy production and immune system function—so dig in to keep levels high. OK, so now it's buy time. You're at the market, staring at a wall of olives and not so sure where to start. Here are a few tips on what to look for:.
Step outside the supermarket. Head to the local farmers market and look for small-batch, artisanal vendors to get the best, close-to-organic quality. Opt for organic. If you're buying bottled olives, look for organic brands that have been "traditionally cured" in order to avoid the ones that have been cured with lye. Skip the cans. Try to avoid buying canned olives from large-scale producers, which are more likely to be sprayed with pesticides during the growing process and then treated with harsh chemicals—namely lye, to speed curing—during processing.
Buy in bulk. Instead of canned versions, buy the fresher, high-turnover olives you'll usually find in bins at the market. Buying just the amount you need from the bins will also make it easier to taste-test and find the ones that appeal most to your taste buds.
Our FREE doctor-approved gut health guide. You are now subscribed Be on the lookout for a welcome email in your inbox! You can calculate the calorie density of a food by dividing its calories by its weight in grams.
Foods high in calorie density have a large number of calories in a small weight of food, while foods low in calorie density have much fewer calories in the same weight of food. So, choosing foods with a lower calorie density allows you to consume your usual amount of food or more while reducing your caloric intake.
Takeaway: Olives have a low calorie density and they are packed with healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. Because of that, eating olives can keep you full for longer and make you eat less. This, in turn, may help you lose weight. But how much do you know about their health benefits?
Incorporating olives in your diet can seriously improve your health. And here are just a few examples:. As you will soon find out, many of the health benefits attributed to eating olives are linked to their unusually high antioxidant content. Antioxidants play a crucial role in protecting your cells from damage caused by oxidative stress. Most of the antioxidants in olives come from their rich phytochemical content. They include phenols and flavonoids such as oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleanolic acid, and quercetin.
The impressive list of health benefits associated with those 5 phytonutrients includes the ability to fight inflammation and tumors, and the ability to protect nerve cells, skin, and eyes from oxidative stress.
They can also improve cardiovascular health and prevent liver damage. Olives can increase the blood levels of glutathione, one of the most potent antioxidants in your body. Oleuropein and oleic acid from olives play a role in regulating cholesterol levels. They also decrease the oxidation of LDL bad cholesterol. Well, oxidized LDL cholesterol can cause inflammation of arteries and the development of atherosclerosis, which increases your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.
Also, research done on animal models indicate that oleuropein can both prevent and treat high blood pressure. Furthermore, research shows that quercetin, another flavonoid found in olives, may improve blood flow through arteries in people with heart disease. It could also be an effective way to reduce blood pressure and lower levels of bad cholesterol. It is a fact that the rates of osteoporosis and hip fractures in the elderly are lower in Mediterranean countries than in the rest of Europe.
This has led researchers to believe that the Mediterranean diet, rich in olives and olive oil, may have positive effects on bone health. In fact, multiple studies indicate that hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein, phytonutrients found in olives, improve bone density and can help in the prevention of osteoporosis.
They can reduce inflammation by neutralizing free radicals released by your body as part of a normal immune response. By keeping free radical levels in check, they help your immune system to fight infections and reduce inflammatory processes. In contrast to unhealthy saturated and trans fats, monounsaturated fats can be beneficial for your health. Olives also boast healthy unsaturated fats, which differ from saturated and trans fats due to their chemical structure.
All fats contain the same amount of calories, but unsaturated fats affect your body beneficially 5 , 6. In particular, replacing carbs and other fats in your diet with monounsaturated fats may reduce inflammation and decrease your risk of heart disease 7 , 8 , 9 , Monounsaturated fats are found in foods like olives, nuts, avocados, and plant-based oils.
Some research links diets high in monounsaturated fats directly to weight loss A day study in 32 women compared diets high monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with normal diets. The diet high in monounsaturated fats resulted in weight loss of up to 4.
Furthermore, a large review of low calorie diets revealed that high fat eating patterns more often lead to weight loss than low fat ones The Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes whole foods and seafood while limiting processed foods, may boost weight loss. Olives, olive oil , and other healthy fats are a key component of this diet 14 , 15 , Specific studies on this diet suggest that it may result in 1—4.
Nevertheless, the Mediterranean diet appears to provide a wide range of health benefits, such as reduced blood pressure and waist circumference 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , Olives have a low calorie density and are a good source of healthy fats, two factors that may boost weight loss by helping keep you full and replacing less healthy fats in your diet. The nutritional profile of olives varies based on the type of olive and the curing method.
Still, most are low in calories but fairly high in salt and beneficial fats. The following chart examines the nutrients in 1. This serving provides approximately 10 small- to medium-sized olives 24 , Depending on the size of the fruits, a serving of 10 green or black olives may contain 35—95 calories. Notably, olives are rich in polyphenol antioxidants , which fight harmful compounds called free radicals in your body.
Whole olives are low in calories but rich in polyphenols and healthy fats.
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