You may be as shocked as I was when I started learning about olive oil. You’ve probably heard by now that olive oil is a good healthy fat to eat. It is particularly healthy for the heart due to a potent polyphenol or antioxidant.
Based on the findings of Tom Mueller, author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, 70 percent of the extra virgin olive oil sold worldwide is watered down with other oils and enhancers.
Wait, so that means the oil we are using may not actually be healthy? Yes, it is often diluted with some unhealthy GMO soybean oil and GMO canola oil. Yuck! That really makes me mad!
Unless you are lucky enough to have your own olive grove to make your own olive oil, you are probably buying at the supermarket. Here are some tips on how to choose true olive oil:
Always get Extra Virgin. This is produced by cold-pressing the olives and does not use chemicals for refinement.
- Look for a seal from the IOC (International Olive Oil Council).
- Look for a harvest date and a “best by” date on the bottle.
- Only buy oils in dark bottles, which protect the oil from oxidation. Make sure you store it in a dark place at home, too.
- If it is listed as light, pure or if it is less than $10, it’s probably not real extra virgin olive oil.
This type of olive oil is best consumed when topped on salads, cooked veggies, meats and soups. This is very delicate oil and can burn easily and taste different when heated. When cooking foods with oil, I like to use unrefined coconut oil, ghee or sometimes grapeseed oil.
One last tidbit… When my husband and I went to Tuscany we were introduced to “olio nuovo” which is new oil. It is the harvest’s first-pressed olive oil. Wow, it was amazing! It was the color green and nearly opaque. We were lucky to be there just after their harvest season, so we tried plenty and we were hooked.
Needless to say, when we came back home we wanted the good stuff. We found fresh-pressed olive oil at our local Southern Season store that was wonderful. Then I discovered a club where you get 3 bottles of fresh-pressed olive oils quarterly from different regions around the world such as Italy, Australia, Spain, Chile and Greece. I never use salad dressing anymore - I just use this delicious olive oil! Store bought salad dressing are usually loaded with sugar and GMO oils among other “faux” ingredients, go 100% natural when possible.
Here’s the link to the Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club: https://www.freshpressedoliveoil.com/. (I don’t get paid to share this with you - I just enjoy sharing a great product and service with people, so check it out if you are interested.)
Also, I found this article from Tom Mueller, the author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. These are his Supermarket picks (Disclaimer: I personally haven’t tried any of these but I trust his judgment, check out his book if you want to learn more): http://truthinoliveoil.com/2012/09/toms-supermarket-picks-quality-oils-good-prices.