Olive orchards

The olive tree in biblical times symbolized purity and success, while in ancient Greece, the winner was crowned with olive tree leaves. In recent years, olive oil is considered the "yellow gold" of anti-aging nutrition and beauty. Apart from protecting us from numerous diseases, it is also good for dehydrated skin, nails, damaged hair and it has a mild sun protection effect.

For thousands of years the olive tree and its fruit 'lives' in the Mediterranean area.This precious gift of nature is a living legacy, which is associated with many fields of our life. Olive oil nourishes, preserves, protects, tones, heals, inspires. We deserve to know its priceless value to our diet, health and culture. The high consumption of olive oil is considered hallmark of the traditional Mediterranean diet. In Greece and other Mediterranean countries olive oil has been known for its medicinal and nutritional properties, for centuries. Nowadays, the use of olive oil extends far beyond the Mediterranean area. Olive oil has not only a protective effect against cancer, especially against colon, rectum and breast cancer, but also it significantly reduces mortality from heart disease because of the high levels of fatty acids and polyphenolic compounds that contains. All the countries and regions in the Mediterranean basin have their own food tradition, but in all of them the olive oil plays an important role. From one point of view, olive oil is important, not only because it has so many beneficial properties, but also because it facilitates the consumption of large quantities of vegetables and legumes in the form of raw salads and cooked food. In Italy and Spain, where olive oil is a staple in nutrition, the incidence of breast cancer is lower than in North America and Northern Europe. Greek women, who consume about 42% of their caloric energy as fat, mainly from olive oil, have lower rates of breast cancer than women in the U.S., whose energy intake from fat is about 35%.

A little olive oil consumption daily can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer. A new study shows that olive oil launches multifaceted attack on potentially carcinogenic lesions of DNA, preventing the development of cancer and leading 'sick' cells to self-destruct.This study was conducted by Scientists from the University Autonomatis Barcelona, who intended to find out why previous studies had linked the regular consumption of olive oil with a reduced risk of developing various cancers.Thus, they conducted experiments with rats, and they observed that olive oil inhibits a gene, which is responsible for the growth of cancerous tumors in the breast. Moreover, olive oil inactivates proteins which the cancer cells were based on in order to survive. And as if that were not enough, olive oil protects DNA from damage that can lead to cancer. All these are documented in the journal «Carcinogenesis».

Scientists recommend consuming 50 ml or 10 teaspoons of coffee, extra virgin olive oil per day, for the rest of our lives, to reap these benefits.

Greek people are the major consumers of olive oil in the world: they eat twenty times more olive oil than British people and twice more than Italian people, who are in second place worldwide of olive oil consumption.

For the first time, a clear distinction between the olive tree, the olive and olive oil was recorded on the tablets of Linear B scripting. The olive oil is represented by this ideographic sign, which inspired us for our identity.