Extra virgin olive oil is a tasty, historic, varied, versatile, stable, nutritious fruit juice. Olive trees offer a natural variety of flavors of oil that have appeared in international cuisine since ancient times. The vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in olive oil offer health benefits that have been examined in thousands of scientific studies.
- Virgin olive oil is a totally pure product, because it is untreated. It is the only vegetable oil that is edible after simple pressing, without treatment. Actually, it is a pure fruit juice.
- Olive oil is the only edible oil that offers a variety of natural flavors: mild, semi-fruity, fruity, bitter, pungent, and sweet.
- Olive oil is the main fat in the acclaimed, healthy Mediterranean diet, as well as a culinary treasure used in international cuisine.
- Olive oil has starred in Greek cuisine since ancient times, as seen in the writings of Archestratus, the 4th century BC poet and philosopher who is considered the father of gastronomy and the first to approach cooking as an art.
- Olive oil can be used in stewing, sautéing, frying, casseroles, and baking, as well as for salads and marinades.
- With its high smoke point of 210 degrees Celsius (410 Fahrenheit), olive oil does not degrade as quickly as many other oils do with repeated high heating during frying.
- Olive oil contains valuable nutrients such as monounsaturated fat, vitamins A, D, E, and K, and antioxidants such as polyphenols, which are essential for our health. Olives are rich in minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, squalene, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. The nutritional value of olive oil surpasses that of all other vegetable oils, whereas its caloric value is the same.
- In addition to numerous other health benefits, olive oil can help lower blood pressure, increase intake of antioxidants, improve the balance of "good" (HDL) to "bad" (LDL) cholesterol in the blood, and reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease.
Adapted, with permission, from the Great Extra Virgin Olive Oil website.