It is very difficult, if not impossible, to get a diverse group of people to agree on just about anything.
This is especially true in the field of health and wellness where different approaches and opinions on the best way to eat abound!
With this truism in mind, it is especially astonishing then, that the overwhelming consensus is that olive oil, especially extra virgin Olio Nuovo, is an extremely healthy, beneficial fat to use in the diet. This is accepted as nutritional fact no matter whether an individual follows a vegan, paleo, traditional or even a conventional Western diet!
Given the widespread appeal and demand for quality, 100% authentic olive oil, it is shocking but in no way surprising that most olive oil used on the market even if organic is actually a blend comprised of olive oil (often as low as 25%) with cheap, rancid vegetable oils making up the difference. This according to Tom Mueller, fearless journalist and author of Extra Virginity, who also discovered that the mob has been in the business of distributing fake olive oil for decades!
Ironically, while there may be nearly unanimous agreement that olive oil is a truly healthy fat, the sad fact is that most people are, unbeknownst to them, not consuming the real thing.
This goes for restaurants as well where the “olive oil” almost always used by professional kitchen staff according to New York Chef Emily Duff is a mix (25/75) olive oil to cheap, rancid, and usually genetically modified (GMO) canola oil.
Buying your olive oil from a reputable source where the oil does not pass through the industrialized food system is of critical importance!
Once you have a source for your olive oil that you trust, you will be delighted to know that you can use it for so much more than a low-temperature stir fry or making salad dressing.
I recently asked the Chronis family, owners of Olea Estates, a family-owned olive farm in Sparta Greece since 1856 (and the only place I buy my olive oil), through their distributor Karl Burgart of Olea Estates Distribution Inc., for a list of the top ten olive oil uses on their farm. Here’s what they passed along – from a family that really knows olive oil!
Unusual and Versatile Olive Oil Uses
#1 Marinating Fish or Meat
No time to whip up a fancy marinating sauce? No worries. Just place your fish or meat in a bowl and pour on some olive oil and let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. This will tenderize the meat beautifully and make cooking a snap.
#2 Salad Dressing
Hands down, olive oil is the very best oil to use for making salad dressing. Do not settle for anything less! Combining one part vinegar or lemon juice with between 3-5 parts olive oil along with the desired mix of flavoring herbs will provide a truly healthy topping for any salad or vegetable mix.
#3 Cooking
The Chronis family exclusively uses olive oil for cooking. The high smoke point of olive oil and the stable monounsaturated fat bonds make it good for frying too, although some of the beneficial phenols will be lost.
#4 Preserving Vegetables
If you jar a portion of your garden bounty each season, olive oil is a wonderful medium for preservation. The Chronis family uses olive oil to preserve, of course, the whole, ripe olives from their farm.
#5 Preserving Smoked Meats
If you smoke your own meats, preserve them by covering in olive oil to keep the air out. Shopping tip: if you buy tuna or sardines, only purchase brands that pack in pure olive oil, never soy oil or even water!
#6 Skin care
The best massage therapists frequently choose olive oil packed in dark, amber bottles to use on their clientele’s skin. This is because olive oil is such a wonderful, overall body moisturizer. Olive oil is also helpful as a cuticle conditioner, for softening rough patches on feet and elbows, and to hasten healing for cuts and fissures on fingers and knuckles.
#7 Eye-makeup remover
I keep and travel with a small bottle of olive oil for removing waterproof mascara and other eye makeup. It stays liquid even in the winter months when the house is cool so, for this reason, I prefer it to coconut oil for this purpose.
# 8. Diaper rash treatment
The Chronis family of Olea Estates have used the olive oil produced on their farm as a natural diaper rash treatment for generations. Soft and soothing to baby’s bottom, olive oil is one of the very best, nonallergenic, noncomedogenic oils for soothing chaffed, irritated skin. Witch Hazel is also excellent for diaper rash.
#9 Liver cleansing
Andreas Moritz in his book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse, suggests that ridding the body of substances that “clog up the body’s cleansing organs creating a toxic environment” is a wise practice for maintaining good health.
A key component of a successful and safe liver cleanse is 100% pure, quality olive oil such as what has been produced at Olea Estates for over 150 years. Don’t even attempt such a cleanse unless you are completely sure that your olive oil is 100% genuine and first press.
#10 Polish old wood furniture
Why use toxic sprays and polishes on furniture when olive oil on an old rag will do the trick without all the chemicals? If you have someone in your family that likes to restore old wood furniture, suggest a simple bottle of pure olive oil as the polishing agent.
How many of these uses for olive oil are you practicing in your home? Do you have any other unusual olive oil uses that you can share in the comments section?
This post was sponsored by Olea Estates.
Vegetable oil have serious implications to our health. Since the 1950’s we have switch from saturated fats to hydrogenated oils. However these oils are not good to our health as they lower HDL cholesterol (the good one). Low levels of HDL are linked to heart disease and heart attack. No study have ever proved that high LDL is the cause. All hydrogenated oils are trans fat. Most people don’t know that. Of course olive oil is not in this category. We should consume generous portions of olive oil.
When my kids were small, I tried mayo, peanut butter and whatever else I could get my hands on to get gum out of hair and always ended up having to cut it out. When my grand-daughter was little, I faced gum again but this time grabbed the olive oil. It slid the gum right out of the hair with a paper towel and just slightly tugging! Didn’t know there was a difference in the way olive oil was processed so always bought cheap until a few years ago. Now I’m learning even more about it. Thanks, Sarah!
Cutting the olive with canola oil might help to explain why I can buy “virgin olive oil” for 3.99 per litre at the grocery store. I thought it was because they were using olives from Spain! Thanks for the book reference its available from my local library.
I’ve been ordering olive oil from Chaffin Family Orchards for several years. It used to be THE recommended olive oil by most WAPF bloggers. I love it, and I’m confident it’s not adulterated. I order the 2 gallon package, which lasts me about 1 to 1 1/2 years. I’ll keep Olea Estates in mind in mind as a back up if I ever need it. Thanks for the recommendation!
Yes, Chaffin is awesome, but I so prefer the taste of Olea.
Hi Sarah!
I’m kind of confused. Haven’t you said over and over again that you should not ever heat olive oil and therefore never use it for cooking because it becomes toxic? I have not seen any new information that would make this untrue but now it sounds like you are encouraging it’s use for cooking and I’m sure a lot of people will latch on to this and do so!
PLEASE verify!
I don’t use olive oil for cooking, but it is not because it becomes rancid or toxic. Olive oil is stable for cooking, but the beneficial phenols are lost at higher cooking temperatures according to research. This is why I only recommend for light sautes or no heat purposes only because quality, authentic olive oil is expensive, so you don’t want to lose any of the benefits by heating too high. If you want to cook with it for higher temps, go ahead just be sure you understand that some of the health benefits are lost this way. Please see my post on “Cooking with Olive Oil: Yay or Nay” for more info which is sourced at the end of the post above.
Bravo for this post, Sarah. I grew up with all the wisdoms you promote here. and yes,
our family uses only EVOO for all cooking, and even baking. it’s traditional and has been done for centuries ! Happy to see it mentioned in this post.
I personally would not fret for a moment about using it for cooking… The most difficult part is finding honest, authentic sources.
Ancient wisdom is alive and well !
Don’t the companies have to label if they blend the olive oil with canola? Or are you saying the companies are lieing to the masses?
They don’t know it was blended in most cases …. this is where the Mob comes in and why you really should buy outside of the industrialized food system so there isn’t any opportunity for meddling as the oil passes through the worldwide distribution channels.
Sarah, do you think domestic California olive oil is a safer bet in this regard?
Yes, but unfortunately, I don’t care much for the taste of North American olive oil 🙁
I have found that putting olive in the fridge is a good indicator of whether or not it is real, if it isn’t real it won’t turn hard, as real olive oil should. Do you think though, that if it does turn hard in the fridge it could still not be pure olive oil, or could this be a good indicator of real olive oil?
Actually, this doesn’t work in all cases and is not a reliable test. The truth is, the only way to know it’s real is to buy straight from the farm where the oil was actually pressed right there on the farm too.
I have been using Napa Valley Napa Valley Naturals olive oil for a long time now and have always read and heard nothing but great things about it so I have assumed it is a still a great product, even though I have heard about this adulteration issue for awhile now. Obviously assuming is not the best approach. Has anyone heard anything about their products in regards to this issue? I decided to go ahead and give them a call today since they don’t address this in their frequently asked questions. I left a message…
Question: Why shouldn’t one buy sardines packed in water? Thanks, Zoë
Fluoridated tap water is typically used. Also, higher risk for pathogens when packed in water.
But if the producer is going to use questionable water, why would they use high quality olive oil?
I used to only buy sardines packed in olive oil, then I switch to only water because I believed the oil would go rancid during long term storage in emergencies, (I always rotate my stock). Would you insist that packed in olive oil is still better?
Thanks!
Yes, olive oil would be better than whatever tap water they use for sure.
It is the best thing I have found for polishing stainless steel appliances. It leaves a streak-free shine.
Thank you! Never tried it for this.
Coconut oil works good for this too!