Selected Writing Portfolio

Study Shows Benefits of EVOO Supplementation in Male Athletes

The research was conducted on healthy male athletes of ages 19 and 22 and found that extra virgin olive oil consumption was associated with a statistically significant increase in testosterone in the supplemented groups compared to athletes in the non-supplemented groups and sedentary controls.
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  • Health & Diet

Olive Grove Bacteria May Hold Key to Combating Xylella

A research team from the University of Jaén has identified a group of dormant bacteria in the leaves and soil of olive trees that protect them from environmental challenges. Genetic analysis has demonstrated that several microorganisms provide biological advantages akin to a secondary immune system.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change, Trade & Business

Common Olive Pomace Compound Demonstrates Anticancer Potential

Researchers at the University of Granada have developed nanoparticles of maslinic acid, a natural compound derived from olive oil production waste. These nanoparticles exhibit remarkable potential in combating various cancers, including breast, colon, pancreatic and prostate.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Health & Diet

Research Shows the Role of Polyphenols in Inhibiting Cancer Metastasis

Scientists from the Biomedical Research Institute of Málaga and the Nanomedicine Platform have published a study exploring the role of oleocanthal and oleacein in modulating angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, which is directly related to the progression of different types of tumors and the metastasis of cancer.
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  • Health & Diet

Polyphenol in EVOO May Shield Kidneys from Diabetes-Related Damage, Study Finds

In the first study of its kind, a team from the Málaga Biomedical Research Institute and Nanomedicine Platform and the University of Málaga has examined the ability of a trace polyphenol found in extra virgin olive oil to protect against kidney damage associated with type 1 diabetes.
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  • Health & Diet

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Alleviates PTSD Symptoms, Study Suggests

A study conducted by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has shed new light on the intricate relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dietary patterns and the gut microbiome.
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  • Health & Diet

Andalusia Expands Efforts to Reduce CO2, Promote Biodiversity

Andalusia’s regional government, the Junta de Andalucía, has agreed with the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife) to expand the presence of the LIFE Olivares Vivos+ olive cultivation model to reduce the region’s carbon dioxide footprint.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change

Research Reveals How Deadly Pathogen Infects Olive Trees

Using a new method of in vitro analysis, researchers from the University of Córdoba’s agronomy department have proven how fluid emitted from olive tree roots allows the germination of the fungus that causes Verticillium wilt.
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  • Biology & Agriculture

Intensive Agriculture Blamed for Bird Population Decline in Spain

The latest Atlas of Breeding Birds in Spain shows a population decline of about 27 percent in birds linked to agricultural environments. The intensification of farming methods is the driving force, according to SEO/BirdLife, with super-high-density olive groves being particularly detrimental to key species.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change

From Andalusia to Madrid, Spain Shocked at Wave of Olive Thefts

From Granada to Madrid, widespread and well-organized olive thefts are occurring on an unprecedented scale across Spain as the price of olive oil continues to break records. An olive grower from Brea del Tajo, in the autonomous community of Madrid, estimates that he has lost 25 tons of olives to theft so far this season.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Trade & Business

Study Demonstrates Role of Phenols in Early Pregnancy

Oleuropein, a phenolic compound found in olive oil, fruits, and leaves, is well known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. While numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of olive oil-rich diets during pregnancy, there have been no human studies on the role of olive phenols or polyphenols in embryo implantation and development.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Health & Diet

Olive Grove Expansion Threatens Endangered Bird Species in Spain

According to researchers from the University of Córdoba and Ecuador's Technical University of Manabí, the expan­sion of olive groves in Andalusia is impact­ing the habi­tat of the already scarce pop­u­la­tions of Eurasian great bus­tard and lit­tle bus­tard.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change

French Olive Sector Anticipates 50 Percent Harvest Loss

Following predictions of record harvest losses in Italy and Spain, France Olive has warned that this year’s extreme weather events are likely to result in 50 percent losses for the olive harvest in France as well. According to data from the International Olive Council, France produced 4,600 tons of olive oil in the 2021/22 crop year, which was also marked by several climatic challenges.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change, Trade & Business

A Winter’s Night Walk Through Moncofa

In many ways, Moncofa is a microcosm of Spain as a whole. Its history stretches back millennia, encompassing every period from neolithic prehistory through the Roman era to the present day. During the property boom of the early 2000s, sweeping plans were put in place for the reinvention of the town as a major resort. This is far from unique for this stretch of coastline, but Moncofa stands out because of how catastrophically those plans failed.
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  • History & Culture

Study: Traditional Olive Groves Absorb More Carbon than Intensive Ones

As part of Project OLIVEN, a research team from the University of Jaén has con­cluded its study into the envi­ron­men­tal impact of both tra­di­tional and inten­sive extra vir­gin olive oil pro­duc­tion. Its find­ings show that tra­di­tional olive groves absorb sig­nif­i­cantly more CO2 than those using inten­sive (high-den­sity or super-high-den­sity) farm­ing meth­ods.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change

Researchers Reintroduce Bats to Andalusian Olive Groves to Combat Pests

After eval­u­at­ing the results of bat rein­tro­duc­tion across the Iberian penin­sula, the LIFE Olivares Vivos+ project announced the expan­sion of this ini­tia­tive due to the com­bi­na­tion of effec­tive olive pest reduc­tion and the sub­se­quent eco­log­i­cal and finan­cial ben­e­fits stem­ming from reduced use of arti­fi­cial pes­ti­cides and fer­til­iz­ers.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change

How to Follow the Mediterranean Diet and Enjoy Its Health Benefits

For years now, the Mediterranean diet has right­fully been pub­licly cel­e­brated for its phys­i­cal and men­tal health ben­e­fits, but what exactly is it, and how does it work? In sim­ple terms, the Mediterranean diet refers to the tra­di­tional diet of olive-grow­ing regions before the intro­duc­tion of fast food, large quan­ti­ties of red meats and other harm­ful habits that arose from the glob­al­iza­tion of the decades fol­low­ing World War II.
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  • Health & Diet

The Dark History of Moncofa – The Orange Grove Graves

In late October of 2017, I rented an apartment in the small coastal town of Moncofa. From my terrace, I could see the Mediterranean to the East, and the foothills of the Sierra de Espadán rising in the West. At night my dreams were filled with visions of the sea as the waves crashed below me. It was idyllic.
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  • History & Culture

Biodiversity Project Expands Beyond Spain

The new LIFE Olivares Vivos+ project, which aims to decrease the envi­ron­men­tal impact of olive cul­ti­va­tion while increas­ing prof­its for farm­ers, is to expand beyond Spain into the main olive-grow­ing regions of Italy, Greece, and Portugal. Presented at the head­quar­ters of the International Olive Council in Madrid, the project is to run from this year until 2026.
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  • Biology & Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, & Climate Change

Researchers Identify Xylella Vectors on Balearic Islands

A research team from the University of the Balearic Islands has iden­ti­fied two species of insects as the main vec­tors of Xylella fas­tidiosa on the Mediterranean arch­i­pel­ago. The researchers from the university's applied zool­ogy and con­ser­va­tion research group found Philaenus spumar­ius and Neophilaenus campestris to be the two main car­ri­ers of the deadly olive tree pathogen.
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  • Biology & Agriculture

Childhood Obesity on the Rise in Spain as Adherence to Med Diet Falls

Save the Children, an inter­na­tional non-gov­ern­men­tal orga­ni­za­tion, has issued a stark warn­ing about the future of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle, cit­ing socioe­co­nomic inequal­ity and the Covid-19 pan­demic as sig­nif­i­cant dri­ving fac­tors in its decline.
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  • Health & Diet

Noson Galan Gaeaf – a Pagan Halloween from Celtic Wales

A few days ago I was talking with an acquaintance about the Black Mountains in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Part of the Brecon Beacons National Park, the landscape is breathtaking - a seemingly unending panorama stretching out in all directions. My first serious sojourn into these mountains was early in the afternoon of Halloween, or Nos/Noson Galan Gaeaf in Welsh.
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  • History & Culture