Olive oil is the cornerstone and a key ingredient of the famous Mediterranean diet. It is much healthier than any other cooking oil and healthier than other fats like butter.
That is especially true for extra virgin olive oil, the only cooking oil that is 100% natural and does not undergo any chemical processing. There are studies that suggest olive oil consumption can help avoid strokes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis, and even cancer.
There are numerous other health benefits but one that is for certain is that you will be spared from the risks associated with consuming vegetable seed oils and other low-quality cooking oils.
Extra virgin olive oil vs. other oils
Extra virgin olive oil is simply the juice of the olive fruit with its water removed by centrifuge, an unrefined, all-natural product created without heat or chemicals involved in any step of the process.
Besides extra virgin olive oil and unrefined virgin coconut oil, every other common food oil requires chemical processing. All vegetable oils, including corn oil, peanut oil, and canola oil, are extracted from seeds using high heat along with industrial solvents, such as Hexane, a chemical the EPA has identified as a neurotoxin in rat studies.
Seed oils created by chemical extraction must still be bleached and deodorized in order to make them edible, and these processes destroy any natural nutrients while also producing free radicals that can contribute to a host of diseases when these oils are consumed.
The latest study indicating the dangers of vegetable oils – released in the summer of 2019 and performed by UMass Amherst – suggested that consumption of these refined polyunsaturated fry oils exacerbates symptoms for people with diseased colons.
Research shows that replacing any of these processed, polyunsaturated fats in your diet with the monounsaturated fats found in extra virgin olive oil can aid weight loss and improve overall health.
Furthermore, extra virgin olive oil has many proven health benefits as a result of the oil’s high content of polyphenols. These valuable antioxidants cannot be found in any other edible oil.
