Dipping Into the Science of Olive Oil

TreeFrogTrader · Mar 15, 2025

Big AAPL said:
California Olive Ranch
Berio
Bertolli
Colavita

You cannot go wrong with any of these
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I like all of those but I suspect that Colavita is the best although I think there are some grades and sources that cause variations between batches. I have seen very wide ranging reviews on phenol/oleocanthal content. I think it is good though. Always has a good kick to it in my experience but I know someone could put a report showing low content on some samples.

Americans and probably others tend to judge olive oil on taste and smoothness rather than health benefits. So they end out rating a lot of weak olive oils or oils that have been blended with other oils higher than ones that are actually healthier based on their phenol and oleocanthal content. But most Americans, for reasons I just discussed, would rate it low because they want smoothness on their olive oil on their salad. Frig that. To me it's like good Scotch. It should bark back at you a little if it is good stuff.

Another way to put this is that if don't cough and feel a burn in the back of your throat then the oil is low in the phenols/oleocanthals. If you do cough and feel the burn it is good stuff.

Big AAPL · Mar 15, 2025

I agree. I am Italian so I know if something I am eating is Quality stuff. Colavita actually offers the most options with their Mediterranean line.

Sprout · Mar 15, 2025

Frederick Foresight said:
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/h...istory-did-you-know/dipping-science-olive-oil

Should you substitute extra virgin olive oil for butter, cream, and margarine in your diet?

The musical version of Aladdin on Broadway did more than just provide me with a couple of hours of great entertainment. It sparked a curiosity about why the genie’s domicile was referred to as a “lamp.” Certainly, it didn’t look like any lamp I had ever seen, so I had to look into the history of lamps. Obviously, that’s a pretty easy task these days with online resources ready to spew out more information than anyone needs. It quickly became clear that the genie had emerged out of an “oil lamp.”

In the days of Aladdin, that would have been sesame, or more likely, olive oil. Basically, oil lamps work the same way as a candle, but instead of dipping into melted wax, a wick dips into oil. The earliest such lamps date back some 10,000 years and were made of stone, later succeeded by clay and then by bronze, like the one inhabited by the genie.

The genie’s emergence from the lamp was certainly magical, but there may also be some enchantment in the olive oil that remained behind in the lamp. At least if we go by recent studies that have focused on the health benefits of the oil. Two studies, both by Harvard University researchers, examined data gathered from some 90,000 health professionals who were followed for 28 years during which time they filled out dietary questionnaires and had their health status monitored. The scientists were particularly interested in olive oil consumption since it is an integral component of the Mediterranean diet that has been associated with a host of health benefits. Indeed, the data revealed that subjects who consumed half a tablespoon of olive oil a day had about a 20-per-cent lower risk of heart disease.

That sounds very impressive, but as usual, there are “buts.” The benefits were seen when people replaced butter, cream, margarine and mayonnaise with olive oil, not when they just added olive oil to the diet. Also, there are the usual confounders. Do people who incorporate olive oil into their diet follow a healthier lifestyle? Do they exercise more and eat more fruits, nuts and vegetables? Do they eat less red meat? Do they just eat less? Correcting for these variables is a difficult task. What about the possibility that the benefits are due not to olive oil, but to the reduction of butter and cream in the diet?

On the other hand, there is scientific plausibility for the benefits of olive oil given that it is a monounsaturated fat that does not raise blood cholesterol and that it contains a variety of polyphenols that can counter the damaging effects of those nasty free radicals produced by normal metabolism. A glitch, though, is that extra virgin olive oil and other olive oils have quite different chemical profiles and the study did not distinguish between them.

As early as 6000 BCE, olives were pressed to produce oil in the Middle East by grinding with millstones into a paste that was spread on fibre disks that were then stacked and pressed to express oil and water. That is essentially the process used today, except that instead of using gravity to separate the oil and water, a centrifuge is used. The resulting oil is known as “virgin oil.”

Since there are hundreds of varieties of olives that can be picked at different degrees of ripeness, there are numerous “virgin olive oils.” The highest quality is “extra virgin olive oil” that has superior taste because of its low acidity. In this case, acidity does not refer to pH, but to the presence of free fatty acids. Fats are composed of a backbone of glycerol to which three fatty acids are attached. When these “triglycerides” break down, fatty acids are released and can impart an undesirable taste if present to more than 0.8 per cent.

The second study added another dimension to the potential benefits of olive oil consumption. It was also based on data from the same 90,000 health professionals and had the captivating title “Consumption of Olive Oil and Diet Quality and Risk of Dementia-Related Death.” In this case, subjects who consumed at least a spoonful of olive oil a day had a 28-per-cent lower risk of dementia-related death, including deaths associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

However, there is always an issue with reporting reduced risk in terms of percentages because a large percentage decrease doesn’t mean much if the original risk is small to start with. A more realistic way to report the results of this study is that for every 92 people who replace butter, margarine or mayonnaise with a spoonful (7 grams) of olive oil, there will be one fewer dementia-related death. Not so impressive, but not insignificant either.

There is yet another fly in the olive oil, a rather large one that flew under the media’s radar. These studies did not find olive oil to be superior to other vegetable oils. Although olive oil proved to be healthier than butter and margarine, it did not present more benefits than other plant oils like corn, canola, safflower or soybean.

Unfortunately, it must be mentioned that because of the publicity given to the benefits of olive oil, demand has increased significantly. This, coupled with a fall in production because of global warming, has boosted the invasion of the market by counterfeit products. Some “extra-virgin oils” may be diluted with cheaper seed oils or with lower quality olive oil, including “lampante oil,” the word deriving from the Italian for “lamp.”

Yes, oil lamps still exist although they do not look like the one that turned Aladdin’s life around. Lampante oil is intended as fuel for these lamps and is characterized by high acidity, off-flavours and impurities due to being produced from overripe or damaged olives. “Light olive oil” is also sort of a fake because the “light” refers to colour, not to reduced calories. This is usually cheap olive oil blended with seed oils.

Where does this leave us? A strong argument can be made for substituting extra virgin olive oil for butter, cream and margarine in the diet, although healthwise it is not clear that it is better than other vegetable oils. It does, however, taste better. Restaurants that serve a small dish of extra virgin olive oil into which bread can be dipped instead of being smeared with butter have to be given credit for being up to date scientifically. I just hope they are not serving fake olive oil.

Finally, if you are looking for magic, don’t look for it in any food. Go see Aladdin!
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On the subject of olive oil, it would be incomplete without Eugenio Monesma’s
Ethnographic Documentary on the hand-crafted old ways

pro-tip, one can check for quality by placing in the refrigerator, pure cold-pressed virgin congeals uniformly

TreeFrogTrader · Mar 16, 2025

Myth – the Extra Virgin Olive Oil Fridge Test

https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/extra-virgin-olive-oil-fridge-test-myth

CET · Mar 16, 2025

Cobram Estate Classic 100% California Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a good option, and it is sold at Walmart. Here is some info on it.

Founded by two farmers who met at an agricultural college, Cobram Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oils have won numerous prestigious awards and offer exceeding quality. According to the Estate's website, "Extra Virgin" olive oils must contain an acidity below 0.8%, and Cobram Estate has gone above and beyond, ensuring that their olive oils contain an acidity of 0.3% or less. These olive oils come in a variety of tones, including robust, classic, and mild, and each bottle comes with an easy-pour spout for hassle-free cooking.

Walmart now has their own Great Value 100% California EVOO if you are concerned about imported oils and want to keep the cost down. IMO is has a taste similar to California Olive Ranch.

maxinger · Mar 16, 2025

Many natural foods (including cold pressed olive oil) are healthy.

Thousands of unnatural / denatured / man-made food are unhealthy.
Avoid food that have gone through the hands of food scientists.
Don't dip into the food scientists.
They can move the molecules here and there, straighten the molecular structure and those wonder things.

Food molecules, stay where you are.

FortuneTeller · Mar 18, 2025

When I hear the word Olive Oil it reminds me of this:

Most oils become rancid as soon as they are produced.