OLIVE OIL: WAY OF LONG LIFE
MEDITERRANEO EDITIONS
www.mediterraneo.gr
Back cover
Myths, history and folklore are the principle testimonies in tracking the olive culture which have been unbreakably linked with human existence in Greece for the past 5000 years. The tree with the blessed fruit is praised for its contribution to our diet, good health, hygiene, beauty, heating, and lighting, and acquires a sacred nature of symbolic and religious proportions.
Contemporary medical studies endorse the myths about olive oil proving, that being the principal ingredient of the Mediterranean diet, it provides good health and longevity. In this book you can find ample information bout the mythology, history and folklore of the olive tree, fruit and oil. At the same time you will be able to try culinary delights based on olives and olive oil thanks to the traditional recipes contained herein.
Section 1: Olives & Olive Oil: The Roots of an Ancient Culture
• Mythology, historical accounts, traditions, and customs all provide evidence that olive oil has special properties, which over the centuries have been used in beauty, health, and medicinal products.
Section 2: Popular Customs and Traditions
Section 3: The Olive and Olive Oil Sacred Symbols
Section 4: Olive Oil the Secret of Life
• Man’s need for a return to natural foods has meant that olive oil has come to be considered a source of good and healthy living and is included among the 10 most beneficial foods.
• A study carried out in Crete, the US, Japan, Italy, Dalmatia, Corfu and Holland showed that in Mediterranean areas there is a lower death rate from coronary disease – 38:100,000 in Crete, 462:100,000 in Italy and 773:100,000 in the US – and cases of cancer are much fewer – 17:100,000 in Crete, 622:100,000 in Italy and 384:100,000 in the US.
• The difference was put down to dietary habits based mainly on the greater consumption of olive oil, vegetables, fruit, pulses and cereals, and since then the Mediterranean diet has become a model for good nutrition.
• The Mediterranean diet differs from the rest in that it includes a greater consumption of oil and consequently the secret must lie in the constituents of olive oil and mainly in the oleic acid which is a monosaturated fatty acid reaching a proportion of 83%
• Apart from the fatty substances, which also include linoleic and linolenic acid, oil contains vitamin E (3-30mg), minerals, etc. which as anti-oxidants help to protect cells from harm and consequently protect them from various diseases including cancer.
• Women who consume oil reduce to 25% the chances of contracting breast or ovarian cancer. This explains the lower rate of cases in the Mediterranean in comparison to countries producing less oil. The same applies to cancer of the stomach, prostate and large intestine, which are all linked to dietary habits.
• Apart from cancer, oil helps to prevent heart disease. This explains yet again why the Mediterranean peoples who combine the consumption of oil with other dietary habits including dairy products, fruit, vegetables and pulses, have managed to protect themselves from heart disease to a greater extent than other nations.
• Oil is of particular benefit to the gastrointestinal tract as it is easily absorbed while at the same time it reduces gastric juices and the creation of satiety. The anti-oxidant substances and in particular vitamins C and E prevent stomach cancer.
• It has been proved to be of benefit to people suffering from ulcers not only as it eases the pain but also as it often helps the ulcer to heal. Due to the vitamin A, oil helps to protect the skin, not only from solar radiation but also from other skin conditions.
• It also makes a positive contribution to the normal development and protection of the central nervous system, the brain and the skeleton, and consequently its consumption is considered essential mainly during childhood and the later years, so as to ensure not only correct physical development, but also a healthy old age.
• The tried and tested Cretan diet constitutes the basis of longevity. To quote Professor Serge Renaud “After 15 years of study, it has been shown that Crete has the lowest mortality rate…” and dietician Ancel Keys was impressed by the liberal, even excessive, consumption of olive oil in Crete. Consumption of olive oil in Greece amounts to 20 kilos per person per year.
• Crete has the lowest mortality rate not only of the 7 countries in the study but world-wide; the secret of the Cretan’s longevity lies in their diet which has remained stable and unchanged since ancient times. It is based on the consumption of olive oil, pulses, fruit, vegetables, cheese, fish, and wine and to a less extent on meat.
Mortality Rate from the “Seven Country Study”
(per 100,000 inhabitants) Serge Renaud: The Mediterranean Diet)
Country Coronary Cancer Mortality
Disease
Finland 972 613 2169
US 773 384 1575
Netherlands 636 781 11825
Italy 462 622 1874
Yugoslavia 242 394 1712
Corfu 202 338 1317
Japan 136 623 1766
Crete 38 17 855
Section 5: From the Fruit to the Oil
Section 6: Qualities of Olive Oil
Section 7: Aromatic Olive Oils
Section 8: Edible Olives
Section 9: Storage in Oil
Section 10: The Olive Museum at Kapsalina Rethymno, Crete
PART II: GREAT TASTES BASED ON OLIVES AND OIL
This section provides 86 recipes.
Section 11: Salads
Section 12: Sauces
Chapter 13: Pulses
Section 14: Vegetables
Section 15: Meat and Minced Meat Dishes
Section 16: Fish – Seafood
Section 17: Pies
Section 18: Desserts