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Olive
is one of the most ancient plant in the world.
It
appeared long before Christ in the Mediterranean Civilizations.
The
ancient people created a symbol of mysticism and holiness from the olive
tree, probably due to its extraordinary longevity: in fact they believed
it was immortal.
| Olive
comes from the Latin " oliva ", name of the fruit.
This precious and sacred tree is omnipresent in Greek mythology. Ulysses
blinded Cyclops with an olive skate, he also made his bridal bed in
its thousand year old tree. Athena, goddess of peace and wisdom, gave
her name to the city of Athens, as an award for having given the first
olive tree to the people of Attica. |
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Olive
tree is a symbol of peace and honor.
The
first Olympians competed, not for gold, silver and bronze medals, but
for wreaths made of olive branches, and casks of Extra Virgin Oil.
In
the ancient Greece, the most important citizens, the bravest leaders were
crowned with the holy leaves of olive.
Olive
tree symbolizes life.
The
Bible contains many references to olives and olive oil.
After
40 days of deluge, the dove gave Noah a branch of olive tree.
It
is also a symbol of peace in the Bible.
Olive
tree is moreover symbolic of weddings and sexuality.
The
Phoenicians, adventurous sailors of the ancient world, helped spread the
olive tree on the Mediterranean shore and they teached the people that
they visited during their periodic commercial journeys how to gain the
oil from its fruits.
After
it reached the Greek settlements in Southern Italy, the Romans extended
the olive tree cultivation first to the rest of Italy and subsequently
to the conquered territories: the Provence and the Iberian Peninsula.
Because
of its location in Provence, Sophim is at the center of the main production
of olive oil: Spain and Italy.
Benefits
of Olive oil
During
the last decades, the medical community has confirmed with certainty what
had already been known empirically by the ancient civilizations.
When eaten,
the benefits of olive oil are tremendous. It is rich in Vitamin E and
other antioxidants, which have excellent anti-oxidizing benefits. Olive
oil helps prevent arterial sclerosis, it helps protect the brain from
aging, it prevents cardiovascular diseases, it is only fatty food which
promotes and maintains a good level of bone density in adult women (preventing
osteoporosis), it decreases the viscosity of blood and lowers cholesterol
levels.
When
used for skin care, the benefits are excellent. It was in the ancient
Egypt that olive was first used as cosmetics.
Olive oil
has regenerating power on the skin tissue and has the ability to regulate
the natural moisturizing system of the skin. Olive oil smooths and softens
the skin and is great for stimulating and healing the skin by toning up
and firming it.
In modern
cosmetics, people hesitate to use directly olive oil, because of greasy
feel and because of odor.
Sophim developed
modern technologies in order to use the most interesting components of
olive oil and proposes a whole range of products from olive oil origin
for cosmetics:
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