Women who eat a Mediterranean diet with a little extra virgin olive oil have a lower risk of breast cancer, researchers reported in yet another study showing the health benefits of the approach.
Women who participated in the study who added extra-virgin olive oil to their diet had a 62 percent lower risk of breast cancer over the next five years or so, according to researchers at the University of Navarra in Pamplona.
The study was done in Spain, where people presumably eat the Mediterranean diet. The diet is characterized by lots of salad, fruit, vegetables, nuts, a little fish, a little lean meat, a small amount of cheese — and olive oil, of course. Wine is also served at meals.
Retrieved from CNBC on September 23, 2015 at 3:00pm
Benefits from Consistent use of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Internal Use:
- Help raise good cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease.
- Reduces risk of type 2 diabetes
- Use as an antioxidant
- Ease he pain of arthritis and bursitis – antiflammatory
- Improves brain function and protects against depression
- Aids in weight loss by keeping you full longer and reducing sugar cravings
- Aid in the prevention of many types of cancer including breast and colon
- Relieve colds, sore throats and coughs
- Increases absorption of calcium, improving bone health
External Use:
- Treat cuts, blisters, sunburns and frostbite
- Rejuvenates dry skin and smoothes out wrinkles
- Relieve muscle cramping
Polyphenols
- Research indicates they have antioxidant characteristics which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
- An Omega 9 fat which helps to reduce cholesterol.
Benefits from Consistent use of Balsamic Vinegar
Internal Use:
- Contains alpha linolenic acid, an omega 3 fatty acid which has protective effects against heart disease
- High in cancer-fighting antioxidants
- A natural appetite suppressant
- Reduces cholesterol to prevent heart disease
- Helps retard osteoporosis
- Amino acids slow the effects of aging
- Reduces the severity and frequency of headaches
- Enzymes for digestive disorders and poor metabolism
- Helps to control blood sugar levels
- Minerals to prevent bone diseases such as osteoporosis, prevent strokes, treat anemia and fatigue, as well as lower high blood pressure and high cholesterol
- Increases calcium absorption
External Use:
- Bee stings, sunburn, treat warts
- Wash fruits and vegetables to remove harmful substances
Classifications and Definitions of Olive Oils
Extra Virgin Olive Oil This fruity oil has been obtained from healthy, fresh green or ripe olives. The fruitiness depends on the variety and ripeness of the olives, it has no smell or taste defects. It also was obtained from the fruit of the olive tree by mechanical or other means that do not lead to deterioration of the oil. It does not undergo any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.
Virgin Olive Oil: This oil has a slight taste and smell defect. When measured by professional tasters, the intensity of the defects must not by over a specified level.
Pure Olive Oil: This is the name given to the blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oil. The proportion of each depends on consumer tastes. Virgin olive oil is added to the refined oil to restore flavor, aroma, color and antioxidants that are lost during refining.
Olive-Pomace Oil: This name is given to an oil obtained by using solvents to extract oil leftover after producing higher levels of oil. It is then refined and blended with varying proportions of virgin olive oil to give it flavor, odor, color and antioxidants.
All four grades contain antioxidants, with extra virgin having the highest content. Extra virgin olive oil stands out because of its typical olive fruitiness and its high content of antioxidants. Choosing the right extra virgin olive oil depends on personal taste. It is important to check the freshness of the oil since quality decreases with time.
What makes a good olive oil?
Let’s start with three things every extra virgin olive oil needs to have.
1 Fruitiness
Every good olive oil needs to have the aroma of fresh fruit. Olives are fruits, after all. The oil should smell fresh and fruity.
2 Bitterness
Olives are mighty bitter straight off the tree. So any fresh, high-quality olive oil must be bitter, which we perceive on the tongue.
3 Pungency
Pungency is that cough-inducing sting on the throat that’s caused by the healthy phenolic compounds in fresh, high-quality olive oil.
What makes an award-winning olive oil?
To be among the world’s best, an olive oil needs to exhibit outstanding character.
4 Complexity
Exceptional olive oils send us on an olfactory and gustatory journey through a complex bouquet of pleasing sensations.
5 Harmony
A pleasing balance in an oil sample’s quality characteristics distinguishes high-quality olive oils from the others.
6 Persistence
The qualities should linger for a while, giving the taster time to reflect on the fruity notes and complex subtleties.
Olive trees must mature for several years before they produce olives. Careful pruning optimizes the number of olives a tree will bear. It takes at least ten pounds of olives to product four cups of olive oil.
Traditionally trees were shaken to make the olives drop to the ground. Since this causes bruising to the olives, most are hand picked, or nets are set under a “tree-shaking device”. They are then transported to the mill quickly for pressing. Then leaves and twigs are removed and olives are washed. Stainless steel rollers crush the olives and pits and grind them into paste. The paste is then pressed and sent to a centrifuge (a compartment that rotates at an extreme speed). When the centrifuge spins, the paste remnants are pushed to the sides of the compartment cylinder while water and oil are extracted from the center. The oil and water are later separated. It is then ready to be bottled and shipped.
Rich, beautiful, and fragrant, olive oil is much like wine — taste is a matter of personal preference. The many variables that go into the production of olive oil yield dramatic differences in color, aroma, and flavor. The following factors impact the taste of olive oil:
- Variety of olive used
- Location and soil conditions where the olives were grown
- Environmental factors and weather during the growing season
- Olive ripeness
- Timing of the harvest
- Harvesting method
- Length of time between the harvest and pressing
- Pressing technique
- Packaging and storage methods
It starts with the skins of high sugar content white grapes most often Trebbiano. The grapes are crushed and pressed but the wine is separated from the skins before fermentation starts. The skins are called must and are slowly cooked in large copper pots over a wood fire up to two days, cooking away a lot of the liquid. After cooking the maker adds some completed balsamic vinegar, called the “mother” or starter. This mixture is then placed in large, aged oak barrels in a warm area. Depending on the region, it is then moved through various wood barrels which adds flavors through the progression. During this process the sugars undergo a change to alcohol that then turns into acid, which ultimately turns the must into vinegar.
White balsamic undergoes the same process but is “cooked” at a lower temperature for a shorter time to avoid the darkening in color. It is also aged in white wood barrels.
Key concepts
Olives are stone fruits, like cherries and plums. So real extra virgin olive oil is fresh-squeezed fruit juice seasonal, perishable, and never better than the first few weeks it was made. Bitterness and pungency are usually indicators of an oil’s healthfulness. Sweetness and butteriness are often not.
There are 700+ different kinds of olives, which make thousands of different kinds of oil. Asking what’s the best olive oil? is like asking what’s the best wine? The answer is, depends on what you’re eating it with.
Know the when, who, where of your oil: When it was made (harvest date), who made it (specific producer name), and exactly where on the planet they made it. When choosing bottled oil, prefer dark glass or other containers that protect against light, buy a quantity that you’ll use up quickly, and keep it well sealed in a cool, dark place. Even an excellent oil can rapidly go rancid when left sitting under a half-bottle of air, or in a hot or brightly-lit conditions.
Don’t pay much attention to the color of an oil. Good oils come in all shades, from vivid green to gold to pale straw, and official tasters actually use colored glasses to avoid prejudicing themselves in favor of greener oils. Both in flavor and aroma, genuine extra virgin oils have, a marked fruitiness reminiscent of fresh olives, and typically have some level of bitterness and pungency (pepperiness at the back of the throat). In great oils these characteristics are harmoniously balanced, together with complex aromas, flavors and aftertastes that bloom gradually on the senses.
Don’t be put off by bitterness or pungency remember that these are usually indicators of the presence of healthful antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and other healthful minor components of top-quality olive oil unless one of these characteristics is overwhelming and disproportionate to the others.
Above all, seek out freshness, choosing oils that smell and taste vibrant and lively, and avoid tastes or odors such as moldy, rancid, cooked, greasy, meaty, metallic and cardboard. Also pay attention to mouthfeel: prefer crisp and clean to flabby, coarse or greasy.
Labels: If you aren’t able to taste an oil or get help from a knowledgable salesperson, you’ll have to rely on the label for information about the oil. To begin with, be sure your oil is labeled extra virgin, since other categories pure or light oil, olive oil, not to mention pomace olive oil have undergone chemical refinement which strips away olive flavors and many of the oil’s health benefits.
Once you’ve bought your oil, store it in a place where it is protected from light, heat and oxygen, the three enemies of good oil, which speed spoilage. Even great oils deteriorate with each passing day, and will all too soon become ordinary, even rancid, if not used quickly.
Depending on their composition, most oils harden when chilled to around 3 degrees Celsius. As they cool, a waxy sediment settles out of them. Freezing does not harm an oil in fact, it is a good method of preservation but may reduce its shelf life if substantial sediment is produced. The idea that the freezing point of an oil indicates whether an oil is adulterated is a myth.
Ingredients of Our Oils & Vinegars
Extra Virgin Olive Oils – Oil from olives
Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oils
Garlic – Oil from olives, garlic
Basil – Oil from olives, basil
Lemon – Oil from olives, lemon
Orange – Oil from olives, orange
Truffle – Oil from olives, truffle mushrooms
Porcini – Oil from olives, porcini mushrooms
Lime – Oil from olives, lime
Oregano – Oil from olives, oregano
Sun-Dried Tomato – Oil from olives, sun-dried tomatoes
Tuscan Herb – Oil from olives, oregano, garlic, basil, rosemary
Rosemary – Oil from olives, rosemary
Vanilla – Oil from olives, vanilla bean
Chipotle – Oil from olives, chipotle
Dipping Oil – Oil from olives, grape must, wine vinegar, garlic, onion, herbs, salt
Chili Pepper – Oil from olives, chili pepper
Walnut – Oil from walnuts
Pistachio – Oil from walnuts
Sesame – Oil from sesame seeds
Balsamic Vinegar – Grape Must, wine vinegar
Cherry – Grape Must, wine vinegar, cherry extract
Fig – Grape must, wine vinegar, fig extract
Pomegranate Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar, pomegranate extract
Raspberry Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar, raspberry extract
Red Apple Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar, red apple extract
Strawberry Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar, strawberry extract
Tuscany Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, thyme,
sugar
White Peach Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar, white peach extract
Cranberry Fresh Fruit – Grape must, wine vinegar, cranberry bits, sugar
Marionberry Fresh Fruit – Grape must, wine vinegar, marionberrybits, sugar
Plum Fresh Fruit – Grape must, wine vinegar, plum bits, sugar
White Balsamic – Grape must, wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil = 120 calories, 9 grams fat
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar = 5 calories, 2 carbs, 0 fat
1 Tablespoon Fresh Fruit Balsamic = 29 calories, 7 carbs, 0 fat
Egyptians have called olive oil God’s elixir.
Olives have been cultivated since about 6000 B.C.
Olive trees can live up to around 2,000 years.
The first Olympic torch was said to be a burning olive branch and ancient Greece athletes used olive oil to rub all over their bodies.
The Egyptians and the Romans regarded the olive leaf as a symbol of power, over time it became a symbol of peace.
Besides food, in ancient times olive oil was used as a source of fuel for light and as a source of medicine for its healing powers.
Today, olive oil is know by scientists worldwide for its antioxidants, Omega 3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, iron, vitamins A,B,C,D, E and K and phenols which reduce bad cholesterol, protect against heart disease, prevent cancer and ease arthritis among many other things.
Popular Olive Mill Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Pairings
| Balsamic Vinegars | Olive Oils |
| Almond | Lemon, Vanilla, Pistachio |
| Black Currant | Ascalana, Walnut |
| Blackberry | Lime, Chili Pepper, Greek |
| Blackberry Ginger | Sesame, Lemon |
| Blueberry | Herbes de Provence |
| Cherry | Walnut, Blood Orange |
| Chocolate | Vanilla, Chipotle, Barnea |
| Cranberry | Walnut, Arbequina |
| Espresso | Vanilla, Pistachio |
| Fig | Blood Orange, Ascalana |
| Honey | Tuscan Herb, Rosemary |
| Lavender | Herbes de Provence |
| Mango | Lemon, Walnut |
| Marionberry | Ascalana, Blood Orange |
| Oregano White | Garlic, Basil, Tuscan Herb |
| Peach-Dark or White | Lime, Lemon |
| Pear | Classic Greek, Lime |
| Pomegranate | Lemon, Walnut |
| Raspberry | Walnut, Lime, Garlic |
| Red Apple | Walnut, Lemon |
| Serrano Chili Honey | Chipotle, Picual |
| Strawberry | Lime, Walnut, Sesame |
| Tangerine | Blood Orange, Jalapeno |
| Traditional | Porcini, Truffle, ANYTHING! |
| Tuscany | Sun-Dried Tomato, Garlic |
| White | Tuscan Herb, Herbes de Provence |
| White Lemon | Blood Orange |
| White Peach | Lime, Leccino |
| White Pineapple | Picual, Lemon |
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