Olive oil, the medicinal properties of which are known to many of us, is one of the most important products in the diet of any person who wants to be healthy. In our today's article, we will tell you about the main areas of application of olive oil.
What do we know about olive oil, the most popular oil of beauty and health?
That every year in November, after the Feast of All Saints, the collection of olives begins, that the best is manual collection, because such collection allows olives to not crack and do not oxidize in the air, which significantly degrades the quality of the oil obtained from them. And, the time between gathering and squeezing should pass as little as possible. 1L of oil is obtained with 10 -15 kg of olives. The most valuable and useful is the very first cold pressing. Its acid number, according to which it is possible to judge the quality of the oil, is 1. The designation of such numbers must necessarily be present on the bottle label. If the acid number is not more than 2, then you have in your hands excellent oil, which retained all the nutritional and useful properties of olives. And these unique properties they have such a significant amount that allows a person who constantly uses olive oil to eat, to remain not just healthy, but also young and beautiful. Not for nothing that one of the main secrets of the unfading beauty of Sophia Loren is a tablespoon of olive oil on an empty stomach daily. Even at Cleopatra's, this oil intake before breakfast was a mandatory morning ritual, and olive oil was also added to her famous milk baths. And the ancient Greeks, drinking oil in the morning and seizing it with honey, reasonably believed that thereby improve their potency. No wonder, for them the olive has always been a symbol of the victors. Even then Pliny wrote that "two liquids are very useful to the human body - this is the wine that is consumed inside, and the olive oil that the body lubricates. Both liquids are delivered by trees. Rather, you can do without wine, than without oil. " And all because olive oil is the only oil that is absorbed by our body by 100%. This is its chemical composition: a large number of monounsaturated fats reduces the level of cholesterol, and polyphenols and antioxidants protect cells from aging. Also, the reception of olive oil serves as the prevention of atherosclerosis, diseases of the digestive system, improves the growth of bone tissue and is useful for vision. In addition, it reduces the risk of cancer. For example, if the skin is lubricated with olive oil after sunburn, it will make it not only tender and elastic, but also will prevent the process of malignant degeneration of skin cells. That is why the inhabitants of the Mediterranean are not at all afraid of the hot sun - olive oil is the basis of their diet and one of the means of caring for themselves.
As already mentioned above, the most useful oil is the first cold pressed. It is dense dark and, naturally, unrefined. Its taste and aroma include the shades of almonds, herbs, apples and the slightest bitterness, which indicates that the oil is fresh and cooked correctly. Of course, there is also a refined olive oil, which is obtained as a result of refining the first oil and after adding the same oil. Its color is lighter and without bitterness peculiar to the Extra virgin oil (a sort of oil of the first pressing). And, in general, oil can have a color from bright yellow to dark gold and even be saturated with green. This is determined by the variety of olives and the degree of maturity of the fruit. In Italy and Greece, olives are collected early, so the oil from there usually is green, and from Italy its color will be closer to yellow.
But wherever the olive oil comes from, it's equally useful. Here are a few simple recipes that will enhance health and improve beauty. For daily cleansing of the liver, take a spoonful of olive oil with lemon juice on an empty stomach (lemon can be varied with honey - the liver will only be glad), for the face skin: mix olive oil with almond oil, lightly heat and apply to the face for 30 minutes, for hair: add a spoonful of honey, a little cognac and a little mustard powder, warm the mixture and keep it on the hair for 1 hour. And a couple of recipes for connoisseurs of Italian cuisine: classic sauce for spaghetti: butter, garlic and red spicy pepper, then all sprinkle with parmesan - just and tasty, and mix olive oil, honey, vinegar, pounded garlic and spices. In this mixture, the Romans usually dipped flat breads of freshly baked bread.
Ideally, olive oil should take a solid place in your diet: add it to salads, snacks, dressings, sauces. Tomatoes are fried only on it, because scientists have proved that olive oil has the property to enhance the useful qualities of these red vegetables, in which, during thermal processing, the lycopene substance is developed, which increases the body's resistance to cancer cells and actively struggles with its aging. Have you already presented the effect of this duet ?! Moreover, it is also known that carcinogenic substances do not appear in olive oil even after repeated heat treatment.
And more to the note: store olive oil in a dark cupboard, but not in the refrigerator! The storage period is not more than 1.5 years. And for fans of diets, I will quote the words of Leonardo da Vinci himself that "a good diet is impossible without olive oil."
Add this miracle elixir to your life, and everything will go like clockwork, as health and beauty are the most reliable helpers on the road to success.