O-live us could use a boost sometimes!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Olive fruit water is a byproduct of olive oil production. While a concentrated source of nutrients and antioxidants, it’s usually thrown away. But could it be used to power up. . . exercise?
Justin Roberts and team from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, U-K wondered.
They studied thirty participants over two weeks. Some of the subjects drank a quarter cup of olive water every day. Others were given water with only olive water flavor. They all tracked their nutrition and exercise before and during the experiment. Researchers ran exercise tests that included measuring oxygen consumption.
And? They found that drinking olive water IMPROVED how well their blood used oxygen during exercise. With perceived less effort!
The researchers believe olive water could become a sustainably sourced dietary supplement. To get the same benefits from just olives you’d need to eat a TON!
O-live this work really paid off!
Reference: Roberts, Justin D., et al. “The Effect of a Hydroxytyrosol-Rich, Olive-Derived Phytocomplex on Aerobic Exercise and Acute Recovery.” Nutrients, vol. 15, no. 2, 2023, p. 421., https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15020421.