Casa dei Mezzo gourmet olive oil

Health benefits

Everyone knows the Mediterranean diet is exceptionally healthy, and the very best Mediterranean diet is considered to be the Cretan diet.

The Mediterranean diet

Research has shown that Cretans have the lowest rate of heart disease and cancer, and this is thought to be due to the healthy meals they enjoy. After all, you are what you eat. The main component of the Cretan diet, of course, is olive oil. Many visitors to Crete have been surprised by the vast quantities of oil the local people use. Cretans add olive oil to almost every meal, and it has been calculated that the average family consumes 350 litres a year.

Olive oil and health

Significantly, Cretans have been found to have the best health in the world. Cancerous diseases are rare in Crete, and cardiovascular diseases are almost unheard of. Not only this, but recent studies suggest that olive oil has a cleansing effect on the digestive system, promotes healthy cell development and offers protection against many ailments, including arthritis. Olive oil supposedly lowers harmful cholesterol (LDL) while preserving the heart protecting lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). It has exactly the same amount of calories as other vegetable oils – nine calories per gram. It is also very easily digested, having the same makeup of fat as breastmilk.

Olive oil and vitamins

Extra virgin olive oil is one of the few oils which can be eaten without chemical processing. It therefore retains its natural vitamins (vitamin K,A, E and D), and has antioxidant properties which protect the body from disease. In addition, it contains minerals and all the other healthy products of the olive fruit. It is an effective natural weapon against osteoporosis. Thanks to vitamin E – a natural antioxidant – olive oil slows down the changes in cell membranes which lead to natural aging.

Olive oil in ancient times

Even in ancient times, the health benefits of olive oil were recognized – indeed were perhaps rather exaggerated! It was believed to be a cure for all wounds, a myth which lived on in medicinal folklore for many centuries. It was also the basic ingredient of many ancient and Byzantine medicines. Apparently there was hardly any illness it could not cure. It was used against fevers, stomach complains, dermatitis, leprosy and poison. It promoted oral health and kept teeth white, and was an excellent aphrodisiac. In the south of Crete it was used as an elixir for conception, and newlyweds had to eat bread soaked in the first olive oil of the year. Oil for aphrodisiacs was taken from wild olives, but naturally the very best healing oil came from the lamps of icons.

Casa dei Mezzo
Touristiki Kritis A.E.
72055 Makrigialos – Sitia – Greece
Tel: +30 28430 29183
Fax: +30 28430 29184
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