How To Pick Olive Oil With The Maximum Health Benefits

Extra virgin olive oil is highly beneficial for our body. It works to promote heart health and also reduces the risk of developing various kinds of cancer. However, one should note that all olive oils are created differently; and thus, some may not be so beneficial for our health. It’s vital you know how to pick olive oil.

The chief olive oil specialist at Eataly in New York City, Nicholas Coleman, says that it is important for olive oil to be fresh in order to achieve its maximum health benefits. He further says that even if you purchase olive oil from the best producers in the world, you are not going to receive its quality benefits from their oil if it is old. According to Coleman, one should choose the oil very carefully and pay attention to the use-by dates.

How To Pick The Right Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Maximum Health Benefits

A few factors should definitely be taken into account when purchasing extra virgin olive oil are. Here’s how to pick olive oil and maximize its benefits.

It’s important to know the time when it was bottled, the location from which it has originated, and the types of olives that are used in its preparation. Here are some other guidelines to purchase extra virgin olive oil for the maximum health benefits:

• Amount of Antioxidant Contained: Coleman states that the back of your throat should tingle with a peppery finish when you taste a fresh and effective olive oil. Oleocanthal is a type of antioxidant that causes this peppery taste found within quality olive oil. The higher the level of this antioxidant in the olive oil, the more intense the peppery taste will be, and the healthier the oil will be for your body.

• Buy Quality Stuff: Extra virgin olive oil obtained from Sicily, Puglia, and Tuscany is composed of higher levels of the antioxidant oleocanthal. Coleman also insists on considering the price of olive oil. Cheap olive oils are not worth it. He says that most manufacturers who sell cheap olive oil purchase olives from all around the world, and left-over oil at the year-end that has the least potency. They blend olives and oil together to save money and ship the resultant oil to the United States.

• Pick A dark Colored Bottle Of Olive Oil: Coleman further advises that one should pick a dark colored glass or tin bottle of the olive oil before purchasing. This is because the dark colored bottle prevents any photo oxidation and degradation of the oil from occurring. Thus, more so than the oil’s color (which should have more of a green tinge to it than most cheap purely yellow olive oils), the color of the bottle is important to attain the maximum health benefits of olive oil.

• Warm The Oil Slowly: Coleman says that when cooking with olive oil; ensure to warm it slowly in order to keep all antioxidants intact.

The best olive oil available is grown in Greece. This is because Greek olive oil is high antioxidant polyphenols that scavenge free-radicals and prevent oxidation of the delicate monounsaturated fatty acids found in olive oil. You want to always look for 100% organic cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil for maximum freshness. Fortunately, now that you know how to pick olive oil, we’ve made it incredibly easy to get the best: