Homer was the supposed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two classics of Greek literature. “Supposed” because there is no real historical record of when he lived, or indeed, if he ever did live. Some historians believe that the Iliad and Odyssey were really compilations of stories passed down by many people over the years. In any case, if Homer did live, he certainly could have referred to olive oil as “liquid gold,” since this was the oil used to flavor food in antiquity. It was also the oil Greek athletes used to rub their body with as they competed naked in the original Olympic Games.Â
Today, people tend to rub the insides of their body with olive oil, hoping to avail themselves of its health benefits. Back in the 1980s, studies began to show that LDL, the so-called “bad” cholesterol, could be lowered if olive oil replaced other fats in the diet. The Bertolli Company, a major producer of olive oil, capitalized on this notion and came up with the slogan, “Eat well, live long, be happy.” When the Mediterranean diet began to be linked with good health, olive oil, the most common oil used, again rose in status.
While it is true that monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil, do not raise LDL cholesterol, they are not unique in this regard. Diets that incorporate canola oil or sunflower oil also fall into this category. But “extra virgin” olive oil may have an added benefit. This is the oil that is obtained by cold pressing high quality olives and contains a variety of antioxidants. These, specifically the “polyphenols,” may protect against heart disease and cancer. Some epidemiological evidence has indeed shown that people who consume a lot of olive oil may have a lower risk of breast and colon cancer and a lower risk of heart attack.Â
Lower grade olive oils have fewer polyphenols since these tend to be destroyed by processing. Such processing involves taking the mash from pressed olives and extracting it with a solvent to remove off flavors. The solvent, hexane is most commonly used, is then evaporated by heating the oil. Unfortunately, the heat also destroys some of the flavour compounds and the polyphenols. You actually cannot tell the quality of an oil by color or price. Taste studies have shown that cheap extra virgin oils are as good as expensive ones and surveys have demonstrated that light colored oils can be of very high quality. In any case, Homer was supposedly blind, so it’s hard to understand how he could have referred to olive oil as “liquid gold.”
Unfortunately, it must be mentioned that because of the publicity given to the benefits of olive oil, demand has increased significantly. This, coupled with a fall in production due to global warming, has boosted the invasion of the market by counterfeit products. Some “extra-virgin oils” may be diluted with cheaper seed oils or with lower quality olive oil including “lampante oil,” the word deriving from the Italian for “lamp.” Yes, oil lamps still exist although they do not look like the one that turned Aladdin’s life around. Lampante oil is intended as fuel for these lamps and is characterized by high acidity, off-flavors, and impurities due to being produced from overripe or damaged olives. “Light olive oil” is also sort of a fake because the “light” refers to colour, not to reduced calories. This is usually cheap olive oil blended with seed oils.
Many restaurants now recognize the appeal of olive oil and offer little dishes of it instead of butter on the table. A good idea. But the key phrase is “instead of.” Adding a couple of spoonfuls of olive oil a day to the diet is not the way to go, substituting it for other oils or saturated fats is. And if you are looking for a further testimonial, just ask Madame Jeanne Calment. Actually you can’t. That’s because she died in 1997, at the age of 122, the oldest person ever. She attributed her longevity to port wine and olive oil Mme. Calment also rubbed the oil on her skin and once quipped “I’ve never had but one wrinkle, and I’m sitting on it.”
