Bust the many myths about olive oil

There is something about olive oil that makes people irrational — Tom Mueller Worried about using olive oil in your daily diet and that special weekend feast Just forget it. Whoever said that olive oil with a high fat-content is simply not good for health, must dispel the misconception at once. Oil (comprising fat) is composed of various fatty acids, which are grouped under saturated fatty-acids, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty-acids (PUFA), respectively. It’s important to use them in the right combination and proportion. These unsaturated fatty-acids are usually called “good quality” fat. Olive oil is essentially fat, but is rich in MUFA. Due to this property, one can take advantage of various health benefits that this oil provides. Olive oil is beneficial in reducing the coronary heart disease (CHD), mainly by slashing down the bad cholesterol (LDL) and upping the good cholesterol (HDL). Furthermore, it prevents the onset of atherosclerosis, which is attributed to the presence of polyphenols. Hence, intake of olive oil on a regular basis could give protection against certain types of cancers. Polyphenols are present in high quantities in a ladle of olive oil. Well, it’s high time to break the wrong notions about olive oil. But olive oil should not be used for tossing up spicy Indian curries since it has a low smoking point. Indian curries need a longer time to cook, and olive oil starts effusing smoke when completely cooked, which is not good for health. Hence, culinary experts often opine that olive oil could produce toxins. However, it could be used for preparing an array of salads, omelettes or for sautéing purposes that require less cooking time. One fact that I would like to stress upon here is that people blindly use and mix olive oil over other cooking oils that is already present in their vegetables, dals, chapatis, breads etc. This induces an excess amount of calories in one’s meal.

The writer is a dietician