Olives are the fruits of the olive tree (Olea Europaea). Yes, olives are fruits, not veggies.
There are about 700 varieties of different olive varieties in the world. Nevertheless, buying olives in a store you can usually see just two color type differences: green and black olives.
Black is a conventional name because absolutely black olives do not exist in nature. Ripening, the olives darken, getting various shades, from bright brown to deep purple.
If you bought perfectly black olives then they are most likely artificially dyed green olives. Such olives are processed with caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, a very toxic substance!) and then dyed with artificial colorant Iron Gluconate E579. They are less tasty and most of their nutrients are killed by this process.
Right after harvesting, olives are impossible to eat because of their bitterness. In order to get rid of bitterness, olives are kept in brine for several months. The only exceptions are Greek olives Throumpa from Thassos island. These olives lose their bitterness during the ripening and by the time of harvesting are already edible.
Why Olives Are Good for You: Health Benefits of Olives
Olives taste bitter because they contain oleuropein, which sounds like a prescription medication but is actually a plant’s security system. It exists to keep birds and animals from stealing the fruit. The olive tree basically said, “If I suffer, everyone suffers.” Sadly, this strategy does nothing against the olive fly, which shows up uninvited and wrecks the whole operation anyway. Nature is dramatic like that.
Green olives are the overachievers. Bigger, firmer, packed with more vitamins and polyphenols. Dark olives are smaller, softer, and richer in oil. Think of them as the relaxed older sibling who figured out that being a little oily is not a flaw but a lifestyle.
That famously bitter oleuropein is a polyphenol, meaning it is an antioxidant. Antioxidants help your cardiovascular system function properly by lowering bad cholesterol. Translation: olives quietly support your heart while tasting like they hold grudges. Their healthy fats and antioxidants may also help lower blood pressure, which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Not bad for something you mostly see skewered on a toothpick.
They also have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties and give your immune system a helpful nudge. Olives are basically tiny edible bodyguards.
Nutritionally, they are not slacking. The pulp contains proteins, pectins, vitamins A, E, C, and B, plus iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and copper. It is a small fruit with an impressive résumé.
Vitamin E protects your cells from oxidative damage and keeps things running smoothly. Iron helps with energy production, immune support, and moving oxygen around your body. Copper supports your nervous system, immunity, and wound healing, and not having enough of it can increase heart disease risk. Calcium keeps your muscles, bones, and teeth from falling apart. Functional. Practical. Slightly smug.
And then there is the oil. Olives contain more than 30 percent olive oil, rich in valuable mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These fats support heart health and help reduce the risk of chronic diseases. So yes, the oily part is the good part. Life is full of contradictions.
So, are olives good for you? In short, yes. Olives are bitter, oily, stubborn little fruits that happen to be extremely good for your health. You could do worse than adding a few to your plate.
Olives in Mediterranean Cuisine
In Mediterranean cuisine olives are used both as snacks and as ingredients in many dishes. They are put in salads, soups and stewed with vegetables.
Olives are added to meat and fish to spice up the dish, usually along with oregano, rosemary and other herbs. Also, olives are absolutely indispensable for cooking canapes, rolls and bruschetta for various stand-up dinner parties.
Olives, especially large green olives, can be marinated in olive oil with herbs, garlic, lemon, anchovies, onion cheese or fennel.
Olives go well with Asian cuisine. For example, you can add them to thin green beans with tomatoes in soy sauce or to wild rice with mango sauce and vegetable salad. But in general, olives are simple, tasty and healthy snacks. But wait a moment, don’t eat them right out of the jar. Put the olives on a plate and dry them with a paper towel to remove residual brine. Add some olive oil, sprinkle with oregano and drizzle with lemon. And that’s it!
How To Buy Good Olives?
Standing in front of a wall of olives can feel like choosing a philosophy of life. Brine? Brine with olive oil? Mysterious herbs? Almonds hiding inside like culinary stowaways? Civilization has peaked.
Here’s how to avoid buying a jar of salty disappointment.
First, interrogate the origin story. Ask about the region and the harvest. Olives are typically picked between October and December, then they lounge in brine for four to six months to mellow out their natural bitterness. They usually keep for up to two years (sometimes longer) because salt is basically the ancient world’s version of a security system. But longevity is not the same as greatness. A two-year shelf life is a warning that you’re shopping for flavor, not archaeology.
Second, taste them. Trust your own tongue more than any label. A good olive should be juicy, vibrant, alive. It should taste distinctly of olive: grassy, fruity, slightly bitter, maybe a little sharp. If it tastes like a vague salty sponge that has given up on life, step away. That olive has seen things.
Third, buy olives with stones. Yes, the pit is inconvenient. So is truth. But pitted olives are often the fast food of the olive world. Once the stone is removed, the flesh becomes a sponge for brine and marinade. The texture breaks down, and the olive’s own character gets diluted. A stone-in olive keeps its structure.
Be cautious with stuffed olives. Almonds, lemon, peppers, anchovies… all charming. Also highly effective at distracting you from a mediocre base olive. More ingredients usually mean more preservatives. If you’re buying stuffed olives from a local farmer in an olive-growing region, that’s likely fresh and honest. If you’re buying neon-red “pepper” olives from a jar that has survived several economic crises, proceed carefully.
The core rule is gloriously simple: the first thing you should taste is olive. Even if they’re swimming in vinegar or dancing with herbs, the olive itself must lead the orchestra. If it doesn’t, you’re not buying olives, you’re buying just flavored salt.
Choose wisely. Civilizations have been built on less.
Are Olives Good for You? Let's Calm Down
If you, like the rest of civilization, have ever stared into a jar of olives and lost track of time, you have probably wondered how many you are “allowed” to eat in a day.
You’ve heard the warnings.
“Olives are healthy, but there are limitations.”
“Olives are full of fat, and fat makes you fat.”
This is where nutrition advice usually turns into amateur theater.
Yes, olives contain fat. They are literally the source of olive oil. That is not a scandal. The fats in olives are mostly healthy monounsaturated fats, the kind linked to better heart health. Eating olives does not trigger some ancient curse that instantly expands your waistline.
If you want a real limitation, try this one: other people exist. If you share a kitchen, consider leaving a few olives in the jar. If you live alone, congratulations, you have unlocked full olive autonomy.
Then there is the other extreme. The miracle claims.
“Olives melt belly fat.”
“Oleuropein speeds up metabolism.”
“Olives are the secret to weight loss.”
Humanity really wants one magical food to fix everything. Preferably something you can eat straight from a jar.
Here is the less dramatic truth. Weight loss happens when you are in a calorie deficit. Weight gain happens when you are in a calorie surplus. That is it. Olives, steak, sparkling wine, cake, none of them override basic energy balance. They are not villains. They are not miracle workers. They are food.
Are olives calorie-dense? Sure. They are rich in healthy fats, which means they contain more calories per gram than vegetables. That does not make them dangerous. It just means that if you eat half a jar while watching a show and then wonder what happened, the answer is math, not moral failure.
So are olives good for you? Yes. They offer healthy fats, antioxidants, and flavor that makes salads feel less like punishment. Should you eat them by the bucket under the belief that they burn fat? No. Should you avoid them out of fear? Also no.
Eat olives because you like them. Share them if you must. Ignore scary nutrition headlines. Your body is not that gullible.
Be Careful: Most Olives Are Too Salty!
Yes, there’s one thing to keep in mind: most olives are too salty. And if you have high blood pressure, then this is a really serious problem. As we already know, in order to remove bitterness, olives are kept in brine for several months. Therefore, is very important to get rid of this salt.
Sometimes, It is not enough to simply rinse them with cold water. This will only remove some of the salt from the surface of the olives. In order to remove all the salt from your olives, you need to do the following:
- Remove brine from the jar of olives.
- Rinse the olives in running cold water for 2-3 minutes.
- Fill a jar of olives with clean, cold water and refrigerate for 1 day.
- Drain the water and repeat the whole procedure again.
- Do this for two days in a row, and you'll feel a significant reduction in salt in the olives. You can even take a couple of olives out of the jar the first day and save them for later comparison with less salty olives.
On the second day, the olives will be quite edible. You can keep removing the salt if you want, but please note that your olives can also lose some of their taste.
So you need to find some balance between removing excess salt and preserving the natural flavor of your olives. And then - enjoy!
