An Olive a Day: 7 Ways to Liven Your Week

Summary

Including olives in your diet can improve your over­all health, as they are a great source of monoun­sat­u­rated fats and vit­a­mins. Different types of olives, such as Kalamata, Manzanilla, and Nicoise, offer unique health ben­e­fits and can be incor­po­rated into var­i­ous dishes to boost heart health, aid diges­tion, and reduce the risk of inflam­ma­tory dis­eases.

Everyone’s heard the old say­ing ​“an apple a day keeps the doc­tor away,” well it works just as well with olives. Even if it’s only a snack, includ­ing olives can help improve your over­all health. Check out these unique ways to perk up your diet with olives, what types to use, and the health ben­e­fits you’ll get from them.

Monday

Olives make a great addi­tion to a fresh green salad. Kalamata is a Greek olive that’s unlike most olives due to its deep pur­ple color. Usually brined and pick­led, they have a rich, sweet fla­vor. Like all olives, Kalamata is a great source of monoun­sat­u­rated fat, which can help lower your cho­les­terol and reduce the risk of stroke or heart attack.

Tuesday

If you’re get­ting the munchies dur­ing the mid­dle of the day, snack on some Manzanilla olives. This small to medium green olive is grown in Spain and California. It is usu­ally stuffed with pimen­tos or gar­lic. Just five Manzanilla olives hold one gram of vit­a­min E, so a healthy snack can put you well on your way to an RDA of 15 grams, help­ing you fight bac­te­ria and viruses and boost­ing your level of antiox­i­dants.

Wednesday

Make a tasty dip by adding finely chopped olives to your gua­camole. Lugano olives are a good choice. They orig­i­nate from Switzerland but are grown in Italy. They are black with a bit­ter, salty fla­vor. Like many olives, these are rich in hydrox­y­ty­rosol, which has been linked to the pre­ven­tion of breast can­cer.

Thursday

Give your favorite Italian meal an extra punch with some sliced Ponentine olives. This is a black Italian olive that is brine cured. It has a del­i­cate taste that lends itself to pasta. They con­tain vit­a­mins A, E and K as well as cal­cium and iron and con­tribute to a healthy immune sys­tem as well as teeth and bone health.

Friday

Add a light, nutty fla­vor to your home­made bread by adding Nicoise olives. It’s a French, black olive that is small in size and adds the per­fect tex­ture and fla­vor to soft bread. Not only do these olives have the afore­men­tioned ben­e­fits, they also help to stim­u­late diges­tive processes and break down car­bo­hy­drates.

Saturday

Picholine is another French favorite. This green olive is brine-cured then pick­led. It has a mild, salty taste which makes it a great addi­tion to a salad Nicoise. Like other olive vari­eties, Picholines may be able to reduce the risk of demen­tia and Alzheimer’s.

Sunday

Go all out with an olive tape­nade, made by puls­ing olives in a blender along with lemons juice, fresh pars­ley, capers and olive oil. Serve this smooth del­i­cacy with toasted bread or crack­ers. You can exper­i­ment with a com­bi­na­tion of olives for this one and reap the ben­e­fits of an entrée loaded with vit­a­mins and min­er­als that will boost your heart health, aid diges­tion and reduce your risk of inflam­ma­tory dis­eases.

Don’t for­get you can enjoy all the health ben­e­fits of olives by using olive oil in your cook­ing.

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