By Brooke Crowley
You need to first and foremost realize that there are various different kinds of olive oil out there and they are each classified by the method of processing that they go through.
Oil that’s known as being virgin can only be produced by physical methods which means that any sort of chemical treatment is strictly forbidden.
The absolute best stuff you will find will be made from ripe olives which are squeezed into a paste using tools such as steel drums or millstones. Olive oil that is made from overripe or green olives will result in a final product that is really bitter and unpleasant to consume.
Another thing to note about virgin olive oil is that fact that is will not have gone through any kind of processing aside from the basics such as washing, decanting, centrifuging and filtering… although none of these processes are needed to create the final product they are the only ones that are actually permitted.
And let’s not forget that some heat can be applied as long as it doesn’t actually affect the composition of the oil.
Olive oil that’s classed as being refined is usually of poor quality because it was made from oil that had some impurities in it and so it had to go through the process of refining for it to become edible.
The whole process of refining olive oil usually involves using things like charcoal filters or other similar processes… and while you’ll get oil that has an increased shelf life, it will essentially have no taste to it.
The next type of olive oil isn’t actually edible but mainly used as a base ingredient for soaps you see in supermarket shelves. It goes by the name of olive pomace oil and it is basically extracted from the pressed olives that were used to make virgin olive oil. This process usually involves having to use some sort of chemical solvent.
Blended olive oil is the one type of oil that you’re going to want to avoid. Sometimes, you’ll find a blended oil that’s a mixture of various different types of olive oil but more often than not it’s a mixture of olive oil with some other type of vegetable oil such as canola.
Yes, you’ll find that the shelf life will be increased but so will the level of polyunsaturated fats and on top of that there will be a lot less monounsaturated fats… so it will definitely be in your interest to avoid it from now on!
The best type of olive oil out there is widely known as Extra virgin olive oil.
The International Olive Oil Council state that in order for an oil to be classed as being extra virgin it must contain at the very most 0.8% acidity and also taste a lot superior to conventional olive oils.
Getting your hands on extra virgin olive oil that’s unfiltered or cold pressed will mean that you’ll be getting something that tastes even better!
Stay tuned for part 2 of this article shortly…..
– Guest Article Written by Brooke Crowley of lemonadediethq.com. Join her over at her blog where she tries to help people all over the globe get into incredible shape and health, safely and quickly.