Olive Oil

It’s nice to get into the habit of healthy living. As of recently, hubby and I have adopted some habits like only drink mineral water, only use olive oil and olive spread, and we only buy freshly produced food rather than processed food. It didn’t take us long to rule out sausages, crumbed or marinated meat, canned food, chips, cakes and biscuits and quick microwave meals. Also for any new food we try, we always read labels to see what nutrients are in them. Say if I read saturate fat, trans fat or too much sugar in the label, my brain automatically reacts in a way that puts me off buying. Doesn’t matter how good it looks or smells. I am not eating for the sake of flavour any more. As we get older, I think it’s important to be a mindful eater. We’ve been a slave to our taste buds for too long!

At home I am usually the ‘leader’ and hubby usually the ‘follower’ on this sort of things. What surprised me most was that, hubby start to give health advice to his client on what to eat, what not to eat and how to live a healthful life. WOW that was revolutionary cos he used to be a no-fuss guy and enjoyed whatever tastes good! Look at the email below he sent to one of his client:

Bruce,

This is what I found on Olive Oil. I don't think its all that bad to heat it. (Note: Bruce's doctor adavised him to stay away from olive oil if in frying..)

As to the behavior of olive oil in frying it is important to note the following:
Olive oil, as with any fatty substance, deteriorates during the frying process especially if it is used over and over and if the frying temperature is very high. High temperature destroys the good ingredients of any oil while it creates harmful agents for the liver, the arteries and the heart. It is important however to take into consideration that these harmful agents are less likely to be created in olive oil than in all other known vegetable oils and this is because olive oil has a different composition. It contains a high percentage of oleic acid, which is much more resistant to oxidization than the polyunsaturated acids, which are found in large amounts in seed oils. But more importantly olive oil contains natural anti-oxidizing agents such as phenols and vitamin E. Of course it should be noted that during frying olive oil smokes at lower temperatures than is the case with seed oils. The reason is that olive oil is a natural fruit juice and contains a certain quantity of olive pulp. This disadvantage can be dealt with if we keep the frying temperature low. This practice should be followed regardless of which type of oil we use. This analysis should be convincing enough to help us revise our conventual wisdom as to the suitability of olive oil for frying purposes.

I just thought it’s interesting that he and his client talk about olive oil rather than the money market which is what he is supposed to advise on!