Q: I've heard a lot about how good extra virgin olive oil is for your health -- but what about olives themselves? Where I live, "olive bars" have become very popular, and I admit to being more than a little addicted myself. Do I need to feel guilty or cut back?

Dr. Wright: As they say, the fruit doesn't fall too far from the tree. In the case of olives, everything that comes from this fruit appears to be healthy -- the oil, the leaves, and the fruit itself. They are low in calories, contain "good" fat, and have no cholesterol, to name just a few of the benefits that stand out.

But while all olives may be created equal, all olive preparation is not. Olives are not edible straight off the tree. They contain a glucoside called oleuropein that makes them bitter – but manufacturers remove it during processing. And there is a big difference between the traditionally fermented olives and those that are commercially processed.

In order to make foods "shelf stable" manufactures practice some combination of high-heat pasteurization and refrigeration in almost all mass-produced foods, including the olives on your average supermarket shelf. Some experts have hypothesized that excessive pasteurization might cause imbalances in intestinal flora since it eliminates the beneficial lactobacteria produced by traditional fermentation practices. The olives in the olive bars you refer to (a new trend in supermarkets and natural food stores) are more likely to have traditionally fermented fruits and, as such, would be the healthier variety to satiate your "olive tooth."