[troutman]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Olives are great but aren't they incredibly bad?

Hard to get findings about the health benefits of olives, without it coming from Mercola or Natural News type sites.

Best I could find so far:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-li...n/faq-20058439

The main type of fat found in all kinds of olive oil is monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). MUFAs are considered a healthy dietary fat.

If you replace saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats, such as MUFAs and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), you may gain certain health benefits.

MUFAs and PUFAs may help lower your risk of heart disease by improving related risk factors. For instance, MUFAs have been found to lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels.

In addition, some research shows that MUFAs may benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control, which can be helpful if you have or are at risk of type 2 diabetes.

But even healthier fats like olive oil are high in calories, so use them in moderation.

The Mediterranean diet: science and practice

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16512956

Approximately 50 years ago, Keys and colleagues described strikingly low rates of coronary heart disease in the Mediterranean region, where fat intake was relatively high but largely from olive oil. Subsequent controlled feeding studies have shown that compared to carbohydrate, both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats reduce LDL and triglycerides and increase HDL cholesterol. Importantly, these beneficial metabolic effects are greater in the presence of underlying insulin resistance. In a detailed analysis within the Nurses' Health Study, trans fat from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (absent in traditional Mediterranean diets) was most strongly related to risk of heart disease, and both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat were inversely associated with risk. Epidemiologic evidence has also supported beneficial effects of higher intakes of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, and daily consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol. Together with regular physical activity and not smoking, our analyses suggest that over 80% of coronary heart disease, 70% of stroke, and 90% of type 2 diabetes can be avoided by healthy food choices that are consistent with the traditional Mediterranean diet.