A guide to extra virgin olive oil nutrition
Come for your health, stay for the flavour. Here's everything you need to know about extra virgin olive oil nutrition.
100% fresh olive juice.
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the juice of crushed and squeezed olives. By law, it must be produced without heat or chemicals which is what separates it from all the other edible oils. It’s a vibrant, fresh product teeming with antioxidants and has proven health benefits: improving digestion, regulating blood sugar, supporting gut and heart health, and reducing inflammation. It is also linked to lowering the mortality risks of cardiovascular disease, some cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, and respiratory diseases.
We work directly with small producers, and can trace each batch right back to the ground it was grown on—ensuring you get nothing but the juice, with all the associated health benefits.
“If I did believe in ‘superfoods’ olive oil would be one of them.”
—Tim Spector, Leading Epidemiologist
The power of polyphenols.
The EU specifies that EVOO should have a count of 250 mg/kg to qualify as ‘high polyphenol’. Ours come in well above this: between 457 and 799 mg/kg.
Many of these health benefits are directly due to the presence of polyphenols: organic compounds found in plants that act as antioxidants. One of the most exciting—oleocanthal —is only found in olives. It’s polyphenols that give you that tingle (or burn) on the back of your throat when you taste EVOO. Want to geek out on these organic compounds?
“Extra virgin olive oil is the most incredibly potent gut, energy, heart, immune and overall health boosting ingredient”
—Phoebe Liebling, Registered Nutritional Therapist
It's not a trend, it's a lifestyle.
While a ‘spoonful a day’ is a good start, current studies show that you actually need between 30-50ml of EVOO a day over a prolonged period of time to feel the benefits. To easily incorporate these amounts into your diet, simply subscribe to “la dolce vita”. The ‘Mediterranean diet’ is often hailed as one of the healthiest out there, in part down to their use of EVOO as a primary fat across all meals. Pockets of Greece and Italy are even designated ‘Blue Zones’—areas renowned for people living longer, healthier lives and this has been linked to their liberal use of EVOO.
Find ways to incorporate EVOO into your diet with seasonal recipes from our community.
“It is impossible to take olive oil out of the science of the Mediterranean Diet.”
—Dr Simon Poole, MBBS DRCOG FBMA MIANE
Don’t sacrifice flavour for health.
Although we see the benefits of taking a shot of high polyphenol EVOO for health, never forget that olive oil is a food, and an absolutely delicious one at that! Generally speaking, the higher the polyphenol count, the more bitter and peppery notes you will get in olive oil. Everyone’s palate is different, but there’s a point at which you start sacrificing flavour for health and you don’t need to—you can have both.
Our producers know how to balance the polyphenol count with really great aroma and taste, hitting the golden mean between health and flavour.
Healthy soils make healthy oils.
None of the above is relevant unless the olive oil you’re using is of exceptional quality. This starts with the soil. The link between soil health and our health is a prime area of research right now and the findings confirm our intuition: minimally tilled soils with high levels of organic matter and no traces of artificial chemicals produce food with more nutritional value. Soil health is not only important for our own health, it is what sustains the olive trees and the livelihoods of our producers.
We source from regenerative growers who farm organically, promoting biodiversity and protecting life in the soil.
“Farming practices that affect soil organic matter and microbial communities are under-appreciated influences on crop nutrient density, particularly for micronutrients and phytochemicals relevant to plant health and chronic disease prevention in humans.”
—Montgomery & Bicklé, authors of What Your Food Ate
Extra virgin olive oil nutrition fact file
Is olive oil really that healthy?
Yes! Extra virgin olive oil is nature’s ibuprofen. It’s an anti-inflammatory packed with antioxidants, known to fight inflammation. It also supports better gut health, a happy heart, and blood sugar levels.
Does every olive oil contain polyphenols?
Polyphenols (the organic compounds that are mainly responsible for the health benefits) are mostly found in virgin olive oils, and even more abundantly in extra virgin olive oil, a grading which represents a superior quality oil. If it isn’t labelled ‘extra virgin’ or ‘virgin’, the oil is refined—a processing technique which strips away the polyphenols and flavour. In short, the more processed the olive oil, the fewer polyphenols.
How is EVOO different from other oils?
Outside the virgin olive oil category, most olive oils are refined, highly-processed, bleached, and deodorised, creating shelf-stable, lifeless oil at a lower cost. Comparing EVOO to these oils is like comparing freshly squeezed orange juice to Fanta. Even avocado and coconut oils aren't regulated the same way as extra virgin olive oil.
How does it improve digestion?
Olive oil is said to line your gut, soften the stool and, as a result, relieve constipation. It’s also known to address the main causes of bloating. There’s also increasing research around gut microbes and EVOO’s benefit on them.
How does it regulate blood sugar?
Having fats in the morning slows down the absorption of any carbs and sugars we might consume later on. When your blood sugar is not suddenly spiked, you will avoid the afternoon slumps and shield yourself from the triggers of
How does it support gut health?
It reduces the abundance of pathogenic bacteria, stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria, and increases the production of microbially produced short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which exert a wide range of anti-inflammatory effects.
How does it support heart health?
The British Heart Foundation has recommended the use of olive oil for good reason. Not only is it a healthy fat but its oleuropein content acts as a vasodilator, helping to flush away aggregating platelets. Plus, its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties help keep our heart working in tiptop shape. Oleuropein is responsible for a whole lot more too. Alexis Kerner, a leading international olive oil expert & environmental scientist, tells us why.
How does it reduce inflammation?
EVOO contains oleocanthal, a potent polyphenol with anti-inflammatory effects that were found to act the same as a low-dose of ibuprofen, but completely nature-based.
Does heating EVOO affect the nutritional value?
While heat will reduce the total polyphenols, EVOO remains packed with nutritional value even when used for roasting and frying and easily beats refined seed oils in terms of health and flavour. Here’s why.
Do I need to drink it neat first thing in the morning to get the health benefits?
We’re firm believers in olive oil as a food, not a supplement: it’s delicious and elevates the flavour and texture of our meals. That being said, taking a spoon of extra virgin olive oil before any other food might just help with steadier energy levels as well as fend off those powerful sugar cravings. Plus, absorption of the nutrients will be higher after the night-long fast our bodies naturally undergo. Given that the recommended daily intake is between 30-50ml however, there’s room to do both: start your day with a teaspoon and save the rest for your meals!
