Are Olives Healthy?

Here are 7 powerful reasons to eat olives. These include spiritual and physical health benefits of olives - both the olive fruit and olive oil, so you'll learn why eating olives everyday is a great thing. (The first two are spiritual benefits of olives!) 1. Eating olives helps us remember the message of salvation. The olive tree is an eternal tree, and spiritually, the eternal message that Jesus came to give us is the message of salvation. This message of salvation is taught to us in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus brought us the message of salvation and one of the biblical characteristics of the olive tree is it is eternal. It is a perfect olive tree symbolism because it can last for hundreds of years. 2. The olive fruit helps us to recognize God at work in our lives. The olives had to go through a pressing. So the first pressing was the oil that was used for the tabernacle. It was used for lighting in the tabernacle. And that's going to be the purest oil we always offer God the first of our fruits, the purest that we have. The second oil pressed would've been used for fires. And then the third oil press would have been used for lighting in our homes. So we always want to give God our first fruits. We always think of the first pressing of olives in 2 Corinthians, where it says, "We are pressed but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed." The olive tree stands for eternity and remember, olives are really not pleasing at first. In fact, they are very bitter. It takes soaking and pressing to get the finest oil that makes the best flavor. And so just as olives are oppressed and crushed, we too can have times that are that seem pressing. But through that brings out the best in us. The olive tree stands for eternity and Jesus is the one who offers eternal life. 3. Olives contain antihistamine properties. So many people today take antihistamines for allergies but did you know that this antihistamine effect can be achieved through pure olives and pure olive oil? It is a good solution to those looking to take a natural antihistamine. 4. It lowers the risk of inflammation. Inflammation tells us we've got a problem and that's okay, but when we have a consistent inflammation, then we have trouble in our body. And so what it does is it just has an anti-inflammatory effect and that is going to help us to feel better. 5. It lowers the level of C-Reactive Protein. So, C-Reactive protein is a blood measurement. Every time you're getting your blood work done, you should always get a CRP value done and you should track that result and always keep track of those results. CRP is important because it's an inflammation marker and when you have that number go up, there can be a risk of cancer. We're getting a risk of heart disease and other inflammatory problems. 6. Olives inhibit the inflammation process. There's a pathway in your body called the arachidonic acid pathway, and this is an inflammation process, so it actually inhibits the inflammation process. So not only does it help to alleviate inflammation, it helps to inhibit the process of inflammation. 7. Olives have anticancer properties. When olives and olive oil are processed correctly, you are receiving an antioxidant component called glutathione. It is your master antioxidant that's the gatekeeper and it tries to get rid of free radicals. I explain more about it in my Treasures of Healthy Living DVD series, so you might want to check that out. I teach all about free radical damage and how to combat it effectively. You see, free radical damage is what makes us look older and what makes us feel older. So if we can inhibit that with glutathione, the master antioxidant which we get from olives and olive oil, then we get the health benefits that give us the wow factor. And so these are five of the physical benefits, why you should add olives and olive oil in your diet. But it all comes down to this. Just as we are spiritual, we are physical and just as we are physical, we are spiritual. So Jesus uses stories of food to teach us physical aspects of who we are so that he can then teach us the spiritual elements of who we are.