Is Extra Light Virgin Olive Oil Better For You Than Light Virgin Olive Oil?

Olive oil is as a heart-healthy oil that is packed with unsaturated fatty acids. The MayoClinic.com recommends that you add unsaturated fatty acids to your diet because these can help lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease. Although, you can find several types of olive oils on the market, they all have the same amount of calories and offer the same health benefits.

Virgin Olive Oils

"Extra-virgin" is the highest-quality olive oil. "Virgin" means that the oil is made from the first pressing of the fruit and is not refined or processed in any way. Extra-virgin olive oil has a rich taste with less than 1 percent acidity. "Virgin" olive oil is made from riper olives and has acidity around 1.5 percent. Virgin olive oils are ideal for cooking, seasoning and for salad dressings due to their richer and more-flavorful taste.

Other Olive Oils

You can also find "refined" and "pure" olive oils that differ from virgin oils in their quality and taste. Refined olive oil has an acidity of 3.3 percent or higher and is basically tasteless, according to the What's Cooking America website. Pure olive oil is made from the second pressing or with chemical processing and is lighter and blander than virgin olive oils.

Extra Light and Light

The term "light" or "extra-light" in an olive-oil label refers to the color and mildness of the oil and not the calorie count. All olive oils contain 100 percent fat and the same amount of calories, according to "Joy of Cooking." Olive oils sold as "light" or "extra-light" tend to be lower-quality oils that contain mixture of refined olive oils. This makes light olive oils more bland and tasteless, with extra-light being slightly lighter than light. Use light olive oils in baking and when cooking foods that you do not want the oil affect the flavor. When it comes to health benefits, extra-light olive oil is no better than light olive oil.

Nutrient Content

Olive oil is good source of monounsaturated fatty acids. One tbsp. of olive oil has around 120 calories and 13.5 g of fat, of which 10 g is unsaturated and nearly 1.5 g is polyunsaturated fatty acids, stated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Olive oil also contains vitamin E, an essential fat-soluble vitamin you should get 15 mg per day, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. One tbsp. of olive oil has around 2 mg of vitamin E.