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Extra virgin olive oil · Olea europaea
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Oils & Other
Extra virgin olive oil
Olea europaea
Extra virgin is not a taste grade. It means the oil was pressed without heat or solvent and passed a chemical test for free acidity, and that is what keeps the phenolics in it.
Benefits
The upper reading comes down on olive oil high in phenolics, and stays put on the same oil low in them.
What It Is Known For
It is lighter in color and taste because it has been refined, which takes out the part that was measured. The calories are the same.
Nothing found tests that, and the trials used it as the fat in the food.
It is a pressing and chemistry standard, and the phenolics that come with it are what was measured.
Key Active Compounds
What separates one extra virgin oil from another.
The fat that makes up most of the oil, in every grade.
How to Take It / Use It
Use it as the fat you cook and dress with rather than an extra. The amount studied was 60 mL a day, four tablespoons, in place of other fats.
Cautions
It is fat, and four tablespoons is a great deal of it if it is added rather than swapped.
Hard frying drives off the phenolics, so dress with it or cook gently.
Where It Comes From
Olea europaea has been cultivated around the Mediterranean for four thousand years, and single trees still fruiting there are older than most countries.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A extra virgin olive oil only makes our list if:
- A polyphenol count on the label, in mg/kg. That is the thing compared, and almost no bottle prints it. One that does has been measured.
- A harvest date, not just a best-before. Phenolics fall away within a year of pressing.
- Dark glass or a tin. Light strips the oil of the part that works.
- One country, one estate if you can. Blends of several origins are the cheapest oil in the room, relabelled.
- It should taste peppery at the back of the throat. That catch is the phenolics. A smooth, buttery oil has fewer.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources1
- Sarapis K, et al. The effect of high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil on blood pressure and arterial stiffness in healthy Australian adults. Nutrients, 2020. Randomized crossover trial