Olive oil is one of the healthiest fats on earth, right? Well, not so fast my friends because you might be getting ripped off. Imagine that, the food you buy in stores isn’t as billed. Olive oil is a healthy fat full with antioxidants and and polyphenols, both of which offer amazing health benefits. But not all Olive Oils are the same.
So let’s break it down…
In a 2012 report on olive oil sold to restaurants and food service sectors, the UC Davis Olive Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute found that some extra-virgin olive oils showed adulteration with canola oil. When tested, some were low on polyphenols, an antioxidant that factors into their health benefits. It’s a sign that the oils were old. (source | expressnews)
The concept here is clear, Olive Oil is a food, it has no preservatives so that means age is a factor.
You want Olive Oil less than 6 months old for it to be decent with your essential health benefits, you want less than a few weeks for it to be a prime source of high quality. When you start pushing a year, your Olive Oil just doesn’t match up well. Olive Oil is perishable, you must understand that and use it as a determining factor when you make your purchase.
You want to buy a bottle with darker glass. Dark glass is going to protect the oil against sunlight (or any light) which can degrade the quality of the oil. It should be stored in a cool, dark place. Think of the dungeons in Game of Thrones (kidding, but that would be amazing, right?).
If you are able to taste test your olive oil, you shouldn’t worry if it is bitter. Bitter is a good sign, it means there are antioxidants and anti-inflammatories and many other benefits present in the oil.
The label matters
Pure. Light. Pomace. These are all signs of chemical refinement. Refinement strips the good benefits away, not matter what the age or color of the bottle is. You want Extra Virgin in all cases. And the ingredients should never have flavors or anything additional to Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or Olives.
The difference between Packed in or Bottled In Italy. Lots of bottles will put the Italian countryside on their bottles along with those two phrases to trick you into thinking the olives are from Italy. But that’s usually not the case. The only way to determine quality of Olives is to look at the mill it was produced in. You can Google the mill. The mill is the actual trace point, not where it was packaged or bottled.
Is it bad, though?
Well, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, something we clearly support at this hub of the web….but you don’t want rancid olive oil, something that can happen when too much time passes or it is cooked at too hight of a heat. To avoid, well, follow the above read. In terms of cooking, use olive oil for lower heat cooking, use cold pressed coconut oil for higher heat. Problem solved.
Happy Health, Folks!
feature photo | pixabay
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