Best Uses for Olive Oil

Foods often have olive oil in them. Olive oil usually helps people with heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It is also used to treat high cholesterol, cancer, problems with memory and thinking, migraines, obesity, and many other conditions. Still, there isn’t much good scientific evidence to support these other uses.

It is used daily to cook and make salad dressings and table spreads. Olive oil is known for being good for your health because it lowers bad cholesterol, raises good cholesterol, helps lower blood sugar, and keeps diabetes in check. Olive oil is great for your hair and skin, and olive oil can help keep the skin from getting dry and hide the signs of aging on the body.

9 Ways to Use Olive Oil

If all you do with oil is soak your bread in it, you’re missing out on a world of uses that might blow your mind. I talked to many people who know a lot about olive oil, and they told me about all the great things you can do with it. Yes, your face is part of that, but we’ll get to that later. Without further ado, here are nine great ways to use olive oil that you might not have thought of.

1. Fruit Salads

Aishwarya Iyer of Brightland olive oil says, “Chunk up plums, peaches, and cherries. Add dark chocolate chunks, olive oil, and sea salt.” Iyer also suggests putting burrata in place of the chocolate to make the snack more savory.

2. Poaching

Kathryn Tomajan, who makes Fat Gold extra virgin olive oil, says, “You should poach things in olive oil.” “Like fish or eggs, or making a confit of garlic. You can still use the olive oil afterward, which is a bonus.” Confit is the French word for cooking something in its Fat. If you replace that Fat with olive oil, especially garlic, something magical can happen.

Put the cloves from one to two garlic heads in a pan and cover them with olive oil. Simmer on very low heat for about 30–45 minutes, or until the garlic is nice and soft. Then, put the cloves and oil in a Mason jar. Use the garlic-flavored oil to poach almost anything else.

3. Ice Cream

Putting olive oil on top of ice cream is one of the easiest ways to use it. Iyer says, “Some olive oil and sea salt are great on vanilla ice cream.” “Or, take chocolate ice cream, add a teaspoon or two of port wine, and top it with olive oil and fresh figs.”

4. Granitas

Dino Borri, Vice President of Global Partnerships at Eataly, likes to put it on granita, a brain-freezing treat made by blending fruit, ice, water, sugar, or simple syrup. Borri puts olive oil on top of the granita in place of the syrup.

5. Yogurt

Brightland’s Iyer says, “Take plain Greek yogurt, add some olive oil, salt, pepper, and sriracha, and eat it with pita chips.” This is a very easy snack to have between meals. It’s good for you, fills you up, and has a little kick that wakes you up better than coffee.

6. Crudo

Trojan says, “Most Americans don’t know much about it, but EVOO is a great way to dress raw fish. People call it crudo, a raw fish dressed with olive oil and sea salt, and it goes way beyond. There’s nothing better than really fresh raw fish with olive oil.” Just make sure your raw fish is good enough for sushi, and it’s one of the few things at Whole Foods worth spending more on.

7. Cheese

Cheese is one of the best things to put olive oil on. Iyer says, “When you have a cheese plate, especially one with hard cheeses like parmesan or pecorino, drizzle olive oil and freshly grated pepper on top.” Just have toothpicks on hand so you can eat it all.”

8. Preservation

Sott’olio means “under the oil” in Italian. According to Michele Iadarola of Especially Puglia, an Italian olive oil importer, you can “keep the flavors of perfectly ripe vegetables all year long” if you do this. Iadarola’s instructions are easy to follow: “Boil fresh vegetables in white wine vinegar until they are cooked al dente.” Once they’re cool, toss them with salt, pepper, garlic, or any other mix of spices, and then cover them completely with extra virgin olive oil in a jar. The olive oil keeps the vegetables from going bad because it keeps oxygen away from them.

9. Skincare

Putting olive oil on your skin is one of the best ways to use it. “We use it to shave,” says Borri. Put a teaspoon of olive oil in your hand and rub it on your skin before and after shaving to make it less sensitive. Also, it makes your skin feel better. I don’t like using chemicals, either.”

Tamajan is also a fan of using olive oil for skin care. She says, “I would encourage people, especially those who do their projects, to use EVOO in their skincare routine.” “I have friends who make their face masks. Using EVOO will give your skin so many nutrients. I also use it when I’m in the tub. I put a tablespoon of it in my bath water, which feels so good on my skin. I also put it on my skin as a lotion. At first, it’s oily, but it absorbs all the oil. People in the Mediterranean have done this for thousands of years.

Are There Any Health Risks or Side Effects of Olive Oil?

If you eat too much olive oil, you might gain weight. Since olive oil is good for you in many ways, it’s easy to think that the more you eat, the better you’ll feel. But remember that it’s an oil with about 120 calories per tablespoon, so too much of it can make you gain weight. Because it has so many calories for such a small amount, it’s easy to use too much of it.

Cooking with olive oil is another worry. The smoke point of extra-virgin olive oil is between 350 and 410 degrees F.right up arrow. Higher temperatures will cause the free fatty acids in the oil to break down, making free radicals. The good news is that cooking on a stovetop stays around 350 degrees F. In other words, if you went over the smoke point of olive oil, you would probably burn your food.

Can Adding Olive Oil to your Diet Help with Weight Loss?

Maybe, but you should only eat it as part of a healthy diet, and you can’t do too much of it. Olive oil is a healthy but still fat, so it should be used in moderation to keep from gaining weight. There isn’t much information about how olive oil alone might help you lose weight. Still, studies show that a Mediterranean diet that includes olive oil may help you avoid gaining weight as you age and lower your risk of becoming overweight or obese. Arrow to the right. The authors also say that the diet’s focus on unsaturated fats like olive oil and fatty fish helps the body burn Fat. This may be one reason why following a Mediterranean plan prevents weight gain.

Research suggests that a diet high in MUFAs may help people lose weight. In one small study on 32 obese women, those who consumed 15 to 20 percent of their total calories from MUFAs (like those in olive oil) moderately reduced their weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and body fat compared with a control group that ate a similar number of calories and macronutrients.

Another possible benefit is that olive oil smells like pepper. In another small study, men were told to eat plain low-fat yogurt with olive oil extract (which had no fat). Arrow to the right Researchers looked at how the brains of the people who ate the yogurt worked 30 minutes and two hours after they ate it. They found that the olive oil extract in yogurt could make parts of the brain work that are usually made to work by Fat. It might trick your brain into thinking you’ve eaten a higher-calorie food, making you feel fuller and less hungry. So don’t be afraid to smell what you’re making.

What About the Health Benefits of Olive Oil?

Most people know that olive oil is one of the best fats you can eat, especially for your heart. In one study, more than 7,200 older women at high risk for heart disease and at least 55 years old were looked at. It found that people who ate the most olive oil as part of a Mediterranean diet had a 35 percent lower risk of heart disease and a 48 percent lower risk of dying than those who ate the least olive oil. Arrow to the right. For every 10 g of extra-virgin olive oil (almost 1 tbsp) eaten every day, the risk of heart disease dropped by 10%, and the risk of dying from heart disease dropped by 7%.

Olive oil may be good for your heart because of the MUFAs, phenols, and vitamin E. Researchers say that the oil may improve blood vessel function, cholesterol levels, and insulin sensitivity. It may also lower high blood pressure. But some background: A healthy Mediterranean diet has many parts, and olive oil is just one of them. People also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, nuts, and legumes, all known to be good for the heart. arrow to the right

Olive oil may help you live longer and keep your heart healthy. One study found that people who ate at least a half tablespoon of olive oil daily had a 19% lower mortality risk than those who never or rarely ate olive oil. Arrow to the right. The researchers also found that eating olive oil was linked to a lower risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, and diseases that cause nerve cells to die. The authors say olive oil should be used instead of margarine, butter, mayonnaise, and dairy fat.

How does Olive Oil Compare with Other Popular Oils?

You can cook with any oil you want, but know that each one has about the same amount of calories (around 120) and Fat (around 14 g) per tablespoon. The difference is in how the Fat is made up. Here’s how olive oil compares to other oils used in cooking:

Avocado Oil, Because avocados are mostly MUFAs, avocado oil is the most nutritionally similar to olive oil. It has 1.6 g of saturated fat, 9.9 g of MUFAs, and 1.9 g of PUFA.

Canola Oil, Canola oil is mostly made up of unsaturated fats, so it is similar to olive oil in terms of nutrition. It also has 8.9 g of MUFAs, similar to olive oil. The PUFA content is different, with canola oil having 3.9 g and 1 g of saturated Fat.

Grapeseed Oil, This oil is mostly made up of PUFA (9.5 g), MUFA (2.2 g), and saturated fat (1.3 g). arrow to the right Both MUFAs and PUFAs have been linked to better heart health by lowering cholesterol levels in the blood.

Coconut Oil, The oil from the tropics, is very different from olive oil. Most of its fats (11.2 g, or about 83 percent) are saturated, and it has less than 1 g of MUFAs and a very small amount (0.2 g) of PUFAs.

Conclusion

Olives are used to make olive oil. It has been used for more than 6,000 years. It was first used in what are now Iran, Syria, and Palestine. Later, it made its way to the Mediterranean, famous for its olive groves. In the past, olive oil was used in religious rituals and medicine, and it has also become an important part of many cultures’ food.

You can buy extra-virgin olive oil, olive oil, and a light flavor in the United States. Extra virgin olive oil, which makes up 60% of all olive oil sold in North America, can be used both for cooking and for cold or finishing dishes. Olive oil can be used in many different ways to cook. Light-tasting olive oil has a neutral taste, so you can use it when you don’t want the peppery taste for which olive oil is known.