Are olives fattening?

Table olives are the queens of the aperitif. Everyone has in mind in Spain, that a very cold beer in summer must be accompanied by some delicious olives. As summer approaches and we start to show off our bodies at the pool or on the beach, we start to control the number of calories we eat. As a result, olives are among the foods we examine. However, do olives actually contribute to obesity? Are they the reason we are overweight? Are olives fattening? Let’s answer these questions.

Summary: Olives are a typical mediterranean snack. When it comes to dieting it is the first thing we take a look, but it is not the most fattening. As well as making us feel less hungry, they provide us with a large number healthy nutrients. Also, in our store in Las Rozas de Madrid we have for sale a great selection of delicious olives: organic, stuffed  natural and stuffed.

Other studies: Benefits of olive oil

1. Are olives fattening? What are the calories from olives?

Olives have about 190 calories per 100 grams. The calories of the olives increase in proportion to the calories of any special dressing they may have.

If we want to know how many calories an olive has, we have to take into account the size of each olive. A large olive can be 10 times larger than an Arbequina olive. Another fundamental aspect is the dressing. Olives dressed only with water and salt, or even without any dressing, do not add any calories to the olive. However, the total number of calories in each olive can vary considerably if it is seasoned with oil, paprika or other natural ingredients.

Consequently, stuffed olives contain a significant increase in calories. The stuffing options are endless and can include anything from pickles or cheese to fruits like dates, blueberries, pineapple, and fig. As a result, dates or cheese-stuffed olives will be high in calories.

Logically, olives are fattening, as any food has calories. However, it also depends on how many we consume.

Small, naturally-sized olives that are dressed minimally or not at all are considered to be less fattening. Southern Aragon would be one example of these. The most fattening would be the fat stuffed with a calorific filling, like dates or cheese-stuffed olives.

To put it briefly, natural olives don’t have a lot of calories. There may be a slight increase in calories in stuffed or seasoned olives. But when compared to other appetizers like chips or snacks, olives are the best option because they’re tasty, nutritious, and contain a lot less calories.

Photo 1: Organic table olives from Málaga, Spain

2. Do olives raise cholesterol?

The olives don’t raise the cholesterol at all, on the contrary it lowers it. The olives lower the bad cholesterol, the so-called LDL for two fundamental reasons; First for its content in extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. All of them are very beneficial for health and the circulatory system. Second, for its fiber content, which also helps lower cholesterol. Therefore consuming olives will help to lower cholesterol levels.

However, not all olives are the same. The most industrial olives that we find in supermarkets have flavors and aromas that are significantly different from their original flavor. On the other hand they are, or the most natural olives, seasoned with common condiments; rosemary, thyme, paprika…

3. From the healthiest olives to the most industrial olives

The most natural and healthy olives are those that have not undergone any chemical treatment at any stage from harvesting to consumption. The more industrial table olives are olives to which chemical ingredients have been added for seasoning and preservation. These chemical ingredients are not good for your health.

We offer here for sale more natural and with minimal chemical components:

• Black olives from Southern Aragon: they are put into brine only. They can be conserved without liquid or in brine.
• Manzanilla Aloreña de Málaga: Same process as the previous ones. However, aromatic herbs are added to give them more flavour.
• Traditional cracked olives from Jaén. Similar to Aloreña olives, but from other varieties of olives: picual, cornozuelo…

Therefore, these are the real natural olives that do not use any chemical preservative. They are also made with citric acid, which is lemon juice or vinegar.

Photo 2: Overweight of people

a) Light chemical process

All olives must be treated, because if you take an olive straight from the tree, it is very bitter due to a compound found in them, europein. With a process of washing and time, the europein disappears and with it its strong bitterness. However, there is another chemical method for removing this compound which is quicker. This process is done using the chemical compound, soda. This is the most widespread process and the one most widely used in industrial olives.

Some of them, the bitterness is removed and some natural seasoning is added without chemistry. They can also be preserved with natural products such as salt, vinegar and citric acid. This group includes the rest of the olives we sell.

But the majority of industrial olives have a lot of preservatives added so they can be flawless and last for many years. Furthermore, preservatives have potentially harmful long-term effects on humans. Also, industrial olives frequently contain additional flavorings, many of which originally come from petroleum, in addition to preservatives. Here we would have the great majority of the olives of “Campo Real” (a popular olives in MAdrid) and the great majority of the olives that they are ssold.

b) Are green or black olives fattening the same?

The calorific value of olives, and therefore their potential to make us fat, is not so much dependent on whether they are green or black. What really increases the calorific value is the seasoning they are seasoned with and whether they have a high-calorie filling.

4. How to differentiate healthy olives?

Differentiating natural and quality olives from more industrial can be easy and you can can do. If the olives you have bought last in the fridge like new for weeks and weeks, it is an irrefutable proof that these olives have full of preservatives.

On the other hand, we identify natural olives if the olives have a white layer on top. The olive contains yeasts that gradually ferment the olive and remove its bitterness. During this process a floating white layer can come out. This white layer is not harmful. The only thing you have to take care of is that the white layer does not get in contact with the olives, because it can spoil them.

Instead of focusing on whether or not olives cause weight gain, people should consider how healthy and advantageous they are.

5. Is it bad to eat olives at night?

It’s also healthy to eat to a few olives before bed, but it’s also a tasty way to end the day.

Olives are a food that has many health benefits, making them the ideal aperitif at any time of the day. But in order to avoid gaining a few extra pounds, we need to control what we eat before going to bed.

The fruit and vegetables that we take before going to bed, its liquids will remain retained in our body, reason why we will not feel something more inflated the following day. A copious dinner in carbohydrates we will quickly convert them into fats, which we will also accumulate. Therefore, eating a few natural olives, which contain monounsaturated fatty acids very beneficial for health and fiber, which will help us to make the digestion, accompanied by a little cheese with oil, or a yogurt will be very healthy ways to end the day.

To sum up, olives do cause weight gain, but not nearly as much as other foods and beverages. In contrast to other foods, olives are a great source of vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids.

6. Calories of 100 grams of olive

Regarding the common questions we usually appear to us: do olives make us gain or lose weight? That’s right, 100 g of regular, unseasoned olives typically provide us with 360 Kcal or 1,500 KJ. If we compare it with the normal coca cola, 42 Kcal or 180 KJ, the olives fatten a lot. However, if we compare it with the satiety provided by each type of food, olives satisfy your hunger while Coca-Cola makes you feel hungry immediately. Thus, olives are actually a much better option for weight loss than cokes.

Photo 3: Calories from two types of stuffed olives

The pepper-stuffed olives have 82 calories per 100 grams, as shown in the photo. With dates-stuffed olives , the calories increase by more than two, to 186 Kcal.

In summary, the answer to the question of whether olives are fattening is yes. However, they do provide us with a large amount of nutrients. Likewise, olives are fattening if they are seasoned and stuffed with high-calorie fillings.

Sources:

Benefits of eating healthy olives. Are olives fattening you? Olivenmypickle