Now I have to admit that some years ago I could never stand Olives on their own until I had them on a pizza, but since those days, I do quite enjoy them on their own or specially in a salad.

So what are the benefits of the humble olive, well olives are a good source of vitamin E and contain natural antioxidants, the only drawback is they do contain a high amount of salt.

Some time back it was thought that the olive was  high-calorie food due to the oil that they contain. But both black and green olives actually contain very few calories and an average serving of ten olives only contains around 30 to 40 calories.

As I mentioned earlier olives do have the benefits of vitamin E, you have to eat a large amount to give your diet a good supply of vitamin E. Olives also provide you with natural antioxidants.

The oil that is derived from the olives is quite high monounsaturated fatty acids, unlike saturated fats do not affect your bloods cholesterol levels and may even help to cause them somewhat.