GRETTINGS dear reader, I hope your week went well as mine did. Today we continue our series on spices and oils that have health and cosmetic benefits and today, we look at (drum roll please) Olive Oil.
This is mainly because I received three emails last week from Musonda Katai, Chishimba Mumbi and Delphina asking what the big fuss wass about Olive Oil.
I know that a lot of people now use Olive Oil, especially the Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) which is used for cooking because of its cholesterol levels that are lower than most cooking oils.
It’s also used in religious festivals by many religions and it has been mentioned in many ancient sacred writings.
Today we are going to focus on its health and beauty attributes, a lot of which you probably know and some which will probably surprise you.
Olive oil is obtained from the olive which belongs to the fruit of the Olea europaee, which belongs to the Oleaceae family. The oil is produced by pressing whole olives.
The olive is a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin where its main uses range from cooking, cosmetics, in medicine, for hygiene (soap) and also in traditional oil lamps.
There are basically three types of Olive Oil; Extra-virgin olive oil which comes from virgin oil production only, and is of higher quality because it contains no more than 0.8 per cent free acidity.
Virgin olive oil also comes from virgin oil production only. However, it has lower quality with free acidity of up to 1.5 per cent.
Then there is refined olive oil obtained from virgin olive oils by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams (0.3 per cent) and usually is refined with other chemical and physical filters.
From this, you can garner that you are better-off using Olive Oil marked as EVOO.
You know how much I love delving into history and how ancient women were obsessed with beauty.
Olive oil used to be used as a home remedy for skin care by the Egyptians who used it alongside bees’ wax and honey as a cleanser, moisturiser, and for antibiotic purposes.
In ancient Greece, where the first Olympics were held (and before pain killers as we know them) Oilve Oil was used to massage and prevent sports injuries, to relieve muscle fatigue, and eliminate lactic acid build-up.
In Japan, women believe that ingesting and applying Olive Oil is good for the skin and one’s health.
Olive oils chemical structure is much similar to our skin’s natural oil than any other naturally occurring oil.
This means that it is the best moisturising agent that you need, especially if you have dry skin and are prone to flaky peeling skin.
Its regenerative power over your skin ensures that if you use it regularly, your skin will remain smooth, soft as well as toned and firmed.
Here is a face mask I found on http://www.stylecraze.com/: “A great face mask to moisturise your skin with olive oil can be made by blending together 1 tbsp. of honey, with 1 tbsp. olive oil and yolk of one egg.
“Blend them together till they come together and apply on a clean face. Let this mask stay for 15-20 minutes after which wash it off with lukewarm water.
“This mask moisturises the skin and helps in clearing out and maintaining the natural skin tone.”
You can also use it to soothe and heal skin irritations as well as on sun-burn, all you need to do is apply a little on the affected area.
You can also use it as a make-up remover and if you have sensitive or oily skin, just rinse it off with your usual face wash.
Mix it in your leave-in conditioner as well to have that luscious hair and if you are having a bad hair day, the best pick-me-up is to just apply a little olive oil with some water to your hair and, trust me, you will be able to comb it.
To reduce the wrinkles around your eyes, massage olive oil into the skin around your eyes, just be careful and delicate so you don’t stretch or damage.
Tired of dry painful chapped lips! Just apply olive oil instead of your normal lip balm. If you are trying to lose weight, change your normal cooking oil to olive oil.
If you hate cellulite, mix used coffee grounds with olive oil and apply, then massage onto the skin.
The easiest thing to do? Just add some olive oil to whatever lotion or body cream you use and, trust me, you will see the benefits.
Anyway I have to love you and leave you but let’s interact in my email divadiarys@gmail.com, divadiarys.blogspot.com and @Arushapot on twitter.