Olive Oil Essentials : What You Need to Know

Here at The Good Oil Daily, it’s time to talk about an oil that many people might happen onto this site in search of: olive oil.

Up until now, they would have wandered back into cyberspace none the wiser, as we’re usually talking about our big love — essential oils.  (To order my favourites, please contact me and I’ll give you a hand.)

But today, we’ll rectify that and dedicate this post to extra virgin olive oil (aka EVOO), which is another ‘good oil’ with a bunch of healthful benefits. Way, way back in time, Hippocrates (the father of medicine) extolled the virtues of olive oil and considered it to be therapeutic. More recently, it’s been praised as a key element of the heart-friendly Mediterranean diet. Olive oil also helps you to feel full for longer and burn fat. And some swear by it for keeping their joints well-oiled and easing out creakiness.

Olive oil has a close relationship with essential oils, as it can be used as a carrier oil to help absorption and reduce sensitivity, particularly for some of the ‘hotter’ oils like thyme and oregano. It also helps your essential oil dollar go further when applying to larger areas, like when you’re having a massage.  (You can read more about carrier oils here.)

And just as quality is imperative for a true essential oils experience (here’s our eye-opening video about that), the same holds for olive oil. Choose any old olive oil and you might well be wasting your money. It needs to be high quality, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil if you want a taste sensation plus all the true potential of what it can offer from a health perspective.

The olives should be pressed and bottled within hours of harvesting, and the oil is best consumed within six months of pressing, as its valuable polyphenols decrease by around 40% after six months.

It’s also important to be aware that labelling laws allow some unfortunate wiggle room — just as they do with so-called ‘pure’ essential oils — when it comes to including some filler oils along with olive. Oils commonly added to help extend the volume are hazelnut, sunflower and soy, the latter of which introduces the whole ‘genetically modified’ can of worms into the equation.

If you’d love to read more about the challenges in the olive oil industry, here’s an interesting article that includes more helpful links as well.

The key things I look for when buying EVOO ?

Cold-pressed within hours of harvesting and the harvest date clearly marked so I know what I’m using is still fresh. And buying from someone who is happy to vouch for there being nothing but extra virgin olive oil in my extra virgin olive oil. Farmers’ markets are a great place to start your search.

Enjoy the good oil daily.

The information on this site does not constitute advice. Please consult with your health practitioner. When using any of the products mentioned throughout this site, please be sure to read the labels and follow their suggestions for safe use.