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!
I dunno. Like a lot of people, I have been around the block a few hundred times over the decades in regard to olive oil. I can quote phenols and oleocanthals etc, etc. Bottomline is that I have more or less given up even though there is a pile of very well constructed studies showing the benefits for cardiovascular disease and some other areas. If I lived in an environment where I could drive across town and get some fresh pressed olive oil I would consume plenty of it. But I don't. And even aside from the rather extensive problem of fake and diluted oils I am convinced that most of the value of very good olive oils does not survive shipping and storage and exposure to light even before you purchase it. And even a good brand at the grocery store is already vastly downgraded even if, by chance, it was good to begin with. And that is probably true for that allegedly super duper special order brand you paid too much for too when you special ordered it off the internet. So I still consume some basic brand just because I take some fat soluble vitamins that need some help with absorption and oil olive can meet that need even if it does not live up to the rest. The other thing is that almost all studies - and for good reasons- eliminate or should eliminate people who are following specific diets or taking other supplements. That is fine and dandy because it helps to isolate the olive oil as the probable factor if there are results. The problem with it though is that there are lots of other dietary foods/supplements that show benefits- even though of course there is a lot of quackery out there too. So for example, I see a study showing olive oil benefits if fresh pressed authentic, etc. Okay fine. But are the results any better than if you did the same study and the person was taking extra vitamin C or blueberries or grape seed extract, or pterostilbene, or astaxanthin or lycopene, blah, blah, blah,? All of which are more stable and affordable and less subject to scams. Good olive oil brings some antioxidant benefits for sure. At least before it deteriorates which starts almost immediately. And if the benefits are just incremental how much less the benefits must be for someone who is already consuming -through fruits, vegetables, supplements other sources of similarly-acting substances? Olive oil is just wayy too expensive and wayyy too questionable for me to bother with these days. That being said, the data is still overwhelming that the Mediterranean diet is a good diet and olive oil is a key component of that so probably it either does no harm, helps, or keeps you from consuming an alternative oil/fat that would have been worse. No doubt just eating less would give benefits that exceed that of olive oil too. Just sayin there are lots of areas to tinker with and olive oil is too expensive, too unstable and too iffy in my view. Maybe Dr. Hayakawa in a lab in Japan who used pharmaceutical grade olive oil shows good results. - little joke there.
Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Wine and Olive Oil! The rest... it's just the rest. Extra Virgin is still cheap, definitely still undervalued although it doubled. Price stagnated for a long time. Producing real cold pressed EV of low acidity cost money. Margarine is toxic, good for lamps and vegans maybe, not for me. I am Mediterranean living away. I consume about 1lt per month of evoo and not of the best quality because of cost abroad. Back home the average consumption I see is about double that. But some is used to conserve food. Even a simple jar of pesto, if cleaned after use and topped with oil in a way that no pesto remains uncovered, it's sealed and would last a few months in the fridge instead of a few days.
That's a fair amount of olive oil! I don't add oil to my foods, and my meals are fairly simple. Although I have recently added a level tablespoon of fat-reduced mayo to some of my evening meals. I get my fats from nuts, seeds, and almond butter, along with whatever fats resides in the whole foods themselves. I am not averse to olive oil by any stretch, but it looks that there are many unknown variables, as described in the article, that may affect its quality. Cost isn't an issue because, even if I did actively consume it, it would be a very modest amount.
I agree about the problem with supply, and that is why I don't spend much on it unless I know the producer. I am also ignorant about the USA market regarding olive oil. Taste aside, as it's essential like salt in the kitchen for me, I believe that the cheapest oil made from olives, is better than most vegetable oils added in processed food.
exactly, and obviously there are layers of expertise. A friend of mine that makes it, at the table uses about 3 different types, because of different flavour preferences in his family. All subtle differences among quality samples. But even in the Med we have some twisted industrial scale of production. It's a luxury if you can source it directly from a trusted producer.
The problem with the USA olive oil market is that so much of it is crap that comes from Italy. You could piss in a bottle of vinegar and put a label on it that says "First Cold Press Extra Virgin from Italy" on it and consumers are willing to pay an arm and leg for it. But most of the Italian Olive oil has snake oil mixed in with it. Most of the cheap brands that come to the US I mean. No one questions that Italy still produces top olive oil but the mafia and crooked scammers control the lower end of the market and that is what comes to the US. California actually produces some very good olive oil. They also produce a lot of medium quality olive oil but it at least is olive oil without snake oil, vegetable oil, and battery acid mixed in with it.
I read somewhere a long time ago that during WW2 when Germany occupied Greece and the Greek islands that sometimes the locals had to live off of olive oil alone for months at a time because that is all they had. Interesting. If they could catch a few fish and then just have them and olive oil, their diet was probably healthier than the average American. At least their arteries were happy. Be nice to have some McDonald's fries with it though. Just sayin'.