26/04/2023
Little golden drops..90%of Greek children growing up where faced with a tablespoon of olive oil every morning before school. Well at least my sisters, cousins and Greek friends were.
This ritual has stayed with me for 40 years. Yep, my earliest recollection of my mother pulling me into the kitchen to drink olive oil was around 3-4 yrs of age. As a child I absolutely despised the experience. Of course not knowing the long term benefits. The only explanation at the time my mother would give my sisters and I was “ just open your mouth, this is good medicine, you’ll never get sick”. And truth be told, in my younger years and early adulthood I was never sick.
But now as an adult and for many years understanding the benefits of these golden drops, this once despised ritual is a daily habit.
Every morning on an empty stomach before my green juice or even water I digest 1 tablespoon of Greek olive oil. The benefits of anything don’t happen over night, but when done consistently they appear.
I could write a list of benefits that olive oil has, I’ll leave you to google them. What I will do is share one that I believe has shown especially as I’ve entered my 40s. MY SKIN. It’s common to lose moisture, collagen and elasticity in our skin as we age especially when Hormone levels start to drop,even before entering menopause. During peri-menopause, as estrogen levels fall, many women first notice their skin is much drier than before. I truly believe that the long term use of olive oil not only on my skin,but in my food and my golden drops first thing in the morning have helped keep my skin looking and feeling soft.
The vitamin D and vitamin E contents found in olive oil has helped moisturise my skin..
Now I’m no dermatologist or even close to giving skincare advice, but today I was complemented and asked about my body’s skin texture so I thought I’d share my very basic and simple ritual.
Ladies I’d love to hear of your own childhood rituals that have either stayed with you or left you traumatised (in a funny way) trust me not all things my mother made us eat stuck around as a ritual 🤦🏻♀️. For my Greek followers one word “ Ρεγγας”.
