Hippocrates, the physician known as the father of Western medicine, called it “thea great healer” and prescribed it for 60 medical conditions. Dioscorides, another doctor, was one of the first to recognize that the healthiest olive oils were the fresh oils extracted from certain varieties of unripe olives – a fact recently confirmed by scientists, whose studies have also added to the long list of olive oil’s health benefits. Ancient Greeks “selected the olive tree because it was reliable, long-lasting, and very fertile. Olives were used as food and as fuel; the oil was a basic product in lighting, medicine, diet, and cosmetics, and the export of the oil was of great economic importance.