Which is the best olive oil for cooking?

In answer to the question about  which the best olive oil for cooking is, the answer is obvious and specialists in nutrition don’t have any doubts about it: extra virgin olive oil.

Yes, it’s certain.  It’s the most expensive olive oil in existence but if what is uppermost in your mind is health and not your wallet, you  have to opt for extra virgin olive oil for cooking.

People believe that extra virgin olive oil is only for using in its raw state, that’s to say, on toast and salads so as to enjoy its aroma and flavour to the full.  That’s  true. You’ll love it but you will enjoy better health if you also use it for cooking.  And you’ll see that it’s not really so expensive.

In this post, we’ll go step by step through information about  which is the best olive oil, for cooking and for your health.

Olive oil is considered a foodstuff.  And where  foodstuffs are concerned, the purer, the better.  So that if we speak about extra virgin olive oil, we’re talking about the real juice of the olive.  That which  contains no impurities.

You will have noticed that there are many oils which are used for cooking.  In fact, oil is the element most frequently used.  It is used for all food stuffs are which need to be cooked in fat.  A large number of oils are vegetable oils.

But when we ask ourselves which is the best oil, we should also ask ourselves if vegetable oils are equally healthy.  And when we have the answer, we can see that not all are as free  from elements  harmful for our health as extra virgin olive oil.

Which is the best olive oil?  The one which contains monounsaturated fats

That’s how it is and according to different studies, 70% of olive oils contain a very high level of saturated fatty acids.  What the consumer has to look for are oils with monounsaturated fats, which are beneficial for the  body.

Human beings also need fats, or to put  it a better way, our diet, the Mediterranean diet, needs fats.  But they have to be of the healthy variety, which is what the extra virgin olive oil produced at Masía El Altet produces.

Let’s give an example.  The oils which are produced at Masía El Altet are cold pressed.  This means that the temperature at extraction doesn’t go up as happens in  the production of other oils in order to increase output  but at the expense of quality.  If the temperature at extraction is increased, the only thing which is achieved is a total loss of nutritional value.

When the olives are picked is also of great importance, always at the exact moment of ripening.  To be more precise, picking takes place early, before they change colour (called PRE-ENVERO in Spanish), when the olives are still completely green.  Less juice is obtained but this means greater quality, another plus point for  the consumer.

Which is the best olive oil? The one which isn’t refined

Extra virgin olive oil hasn’t been submitted to refining.  What are refined oils?  Those which undergo one or several  blending processes to hide imperfections.  As you can see, there are many reasons for choosing extra virgin olive oil for cooking.

But, which is the best olive oil for cooking?  Well, it’s also extra virgin olive oil since it has been demonstrated that this type of oil resists high temperatures much better when  you’re cooking and maintains its properties and the flavour of the food which is being cooked.  Therefore, we can unequivocally say that extra virgin olive oil is like a food ‘protector’.

It is also very common to see sunflower oil in kitchens, used mainly for cooking.  If you’re asking yourself which is the best olive oil, what is certain is that you shouldn’t consider using it because the seeds have been submitted to high temperatures  for extraction to take place.

Which is the best olive oil?  The one which provides you with healthy food

It’s exactly that, in order to have healthy food, it’s necessary to try to use oils containing monounsaturated fats. And  another point.  This type of fats is what helps good cholesterol to increase and bad cholesterol to be eliminated, something which your heart is also going to thank you for.

Other oils which you should avoid

We’ve spoken about olive oil but there are other types of oils which you should try to avoid when you’re cooking.  We could be speaking about the following in particular:

• Peanut oil
• Canola/Rapeseed oil
• Sesame oil
• Grape seed oil
• Linseed oil
• Palm oil
• Soya oil
• Margarines
• Corn oil
• Lard

By the way, lard is widely used in Anglosaxon countries although the health authorities are seriously trying to persuade the population to change over to olive oil.

So, which is the best olive oil? Well, the one which you know is going to guarantee  healthy food.  You will surely have heard it said many times that we are what we eat and it’s certain.  Olive oil is always considered a food stuff.  Like all food stuffs, it shouldn’t contain impurities.  It should follow a series of protocols –  very strict ones, by the way –  so that you’re  guaranteed  what you’re getting.

It’s also certain that it’s time to destroy myths and do away with the belief that there are oils for cooking and others for using in their raw state.  The purer the olive oil, the better it is for cooking, don’t you think?

And now, we’d like to ask you some questions: In your opinion, which is the best olive oil? What type of olive oil do you use for cooking?  Tell us in the comments section.

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