We’ve seen people debating about the health effects of fats and how much fat we should consume, but it is safe to say that almost everyone agrees that fat coming from olive oil is truly beneficial both to human and pets. 

But did you know that there are various kinds of olive oil? This means that each type of olive oil has also different health effects on people.

Refined olive oil comes from the cold pressing process but the result is of poor quality. Because of this, it is refined to remove impurities. To enhance, extra virgin or virgin olive oil is mixed, making it more neutral in flavour and colour. It is still considered healthy because it only undergoes physical treatment and no chemical treatments are involved. 

Olive oil is labelled as virgin olive oil if it did not meet the extra virgin standard and if it undergoes second pressing. It has a lighter aroma and flavour, and is not as golden green compared to Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 

Extra virgin olive oil is unrefined oil and is produced through first cold pressing. EVOO is not treated with any chemicals or even altered by temperature. 

Because of the process, EVOO should be able to retain the fruity taste and aroma of olives.  Olive Oil is graded according to the amount of free oleic acid. The lower the level of oleic acid, the healthier, and in this case extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest.

Basically, these are the same olive oil but the only difference they have is the process of extracting the oil from the fruit. 

On the other hand, the rest of the olive oil is as healthy as well. Each type of olive oil has its own advantage and disadvantage. It only depends on how you want to use it. 

Also, buyers should be careful when choosing the brand of olive oil. There are a lot of mislabelled and counterfeit olive oil products in the market. Right now, Spain produces more Spanish olive oil and have stricter standards compared to other olive oil producing countries. 

Report this Page