All fats, including extra virgin olive oil, provide about 120 calories per tbsp. That means one cup of extra virgin olive oil contains 1,920 calories. Because healthy fats account for a high proportion of the calories in olive oil, the Food and Drug Administration recommends consumption of two tbsp of olive oil daily for improved cardiovascular health. Simply adding olive oil to the menu only increases calories. Replace harmful animal and hydrogenated fats with healthful olive oil to increase the good cholesterol in your diet.
History
The olive tree is a native plant of Turkey and Syria, and its economic value caused its quick spread throughout the Mediterranean region. Spanish explorers introduced the olive to America. Missionaries encouraged the olive's cultivation from South America and Mexico to California, where olives continue to be an important crop. California's olive oil production accounts for less than 2 percent of the oil consumed in the United States annually. The Mediterranean basin still provides most of the world's olive oil.
Types
The olive industry produces many kinds of olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is made from the first pressing of the ground olive meal. The raw olive juice contains water and oil, and centrifugal processing separates the two. The first pressing yields the most flavorful oil, with the taste of fresh olives. Extra virgin olive oil must be made from fresh olives and by mechanical pressing. No solvents or high temperature procedures are allowed, and the oil can't be mixed with other types of vegetable or nut oils. Defective olives or rotting olives still yield usable oil, but require more refining. Producers refer to the recovered oil from substandard fruit as pure olive oil. This grade has little taste or odor. Light olive oil--another purified grade--does not contain fewer calories than extra virgin grades. To improve flavor of the purified types, producers sometimes add small amounts of extra virgin oil.
Benefits
According to Ohio State University, monounsaturated fat accounts for 77 percent of the calories in olive oil. Monounsaturated fats can shift your dietary balance toward good cholesterol--high density lipoproteins, or HDLs--in the blood. For real health benefits, olive oil must replace saturated fats in your diet. Adding the 240 calories in two tbsp of olive oil to your daily diet without reducing other harmful fats could add enough extra calories to create a pound of body fat in only two weeks.
Considerations
Extra virgin olive oil won't replace cooking oil for high temperature frying. The tasty unrefined extra virgin grade smokes at a much lower temperature than pure olive oil. Pure olive oil--the best choice for cooking--smokes at a temperature between 425 and 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Extra virgin olive oil could smoke at temperatures as low as 200 degrees F. The smoking temperature marks the breakdown point of the oil. As oil decomposes, harmful carcinogenic compounds form. The smoking oil also quickly loses flavor and nutrition. If you're cooking with extra virgin oil, keep temperatures low.
Uses
Extra virgin olive oil makes a healthful substitute for butter when spread on toast. When cooking dried beans, a spoon of olive oil--instead of animal fat--reduces foaming. In simmered soups and stews, olive oil floats on the surface and prevents flavor and nutrients from evaporating. Extra virgin olive oil serves well as a salad dressing base, delicious when mixed with herbs and vinegar. For the best flavor, choose extra virgin oil bottled within the past year and refrigerate after opening.
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