Worlds healthiest Cooking oilLeonardo Olive Oil

1.        Extra Virgin Olive Oil2.        Pure Olive Oil3.        Pomace Olive Oil

Uses of Extra Virgin Olive Oil         1st Grade Olive Oil.          Its just like a juice.         It has aroma and flavor.         Produced from the first cold pressing of the olive fruit within

24 hrs of harvesting.         It is best for dressing, flavoring, condiments for e.g. in salad,

pasta, rice,  vegetables, meat and fish or for integrating food for e.g. while making cold sauce.

         It can be used raw with water, with cooked vegetables, with bread instead of butter.

         It reduces LDL. It prevent heart attack, breathing problem etc.         Extra virgin olive oil is not suitable for cooking Indian cuisine

because it has natural water content so it burn the food and gives metallic test which we Indian may not like.

Uses of Pure Olive Oil         2nd Grade Olive Oil         it is an intermediate grade oil with medium aroma and flavour.         It is best suited for preparing continental like Chinese Mexican

cuisine.         It is most suitable for body massage and hair oil.         It reduces hair fall, dandruff, &graying and gives silky hair.         It is very good for infant baby (massage).         It can be used for old joint pain.         Olive Oil for Dry Skin, body lotion, body wash, moisturizer,

body butter, face cream, hand cream, skin cream, bath, beauty and lip balm

         for sun protection, stretch marks, wrinkles, eczema, psoriasis, facial, facial cleanser, spa, acne treatment

 Uses of Olive Pomace Oil .          3rd Grade refined Olive Oil         Olive Pomace oil is suitable for all types of Indian Cuisine.         Best for frying         Hardly penetrates the food         Leaving the food light and digestible.         It uses is 1/3rd of others edible oils.         Due to high smoking point we can use it 3-4 times.         So its price becomes 1/9th of its actual price. So its not costly.

 Olive oil s Health Benefits          Highest content of monounsaturated fatty acids(MUFA) that

increase good cholesterol(HDL) and reduce bad cholesterol(LDL)

         High MUFA helps to prevent heart disease, high blood pressure and brain hemorrhage.

         It contains vitamins A, D, E, K, and B and other antioxidants that fight cancer.

         Antioxidants also prevent aging, increase life expectancy and work wonders for skin & hair.

         Improve metabolic functions         Prevents and controls diabetes         Prevent formation of gallstones.         Olive oils natural fat helps in bone growth.         It is useful for cardiac patient         High smoking point 190c (Virgin)         High smoking point 210c (refined)

Amazing Health Benefits of Olive Oil

You have always associated oil with fats, weight gain, high cholesterol and have always tried to escape the excess oil you find in your food and the excess cheese that shows up in your burgers, etc. But little did you know that of all the oils available in India, there is place for one such, which does not lead to weight gain, does not lead to diseases of the heart, instead, it actually helps in the maintenance of good health and a healthy heart.

Yes, we are talking of the famous Olive oil, considered to be a “boon” for years and relished the world over with people swearing by its health benefits.

“Liquid Gold”

Olive oil is truly known as "Liquid Gold", its versatility makes it possible for it to be used not only as a cooking medium but also as an excellent skin moisturizer that provides a supple and glowing skin. Moreover, Olive oil preserves the taste, aroma, vitamins and properties of the olive fruit and is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed as it is - freshly pressed from the fruit.

Olive oil is different than other oils in that it  –

← does not contain bad fats, does not lead to weight gain, is not unhealthy in any way Reduces blood pressure Inhibits the growth of some cancers

← Benefits people at risk of diabetes Relieves aches and pains of arthritis

Olive oil for the beauty of the skin -

Increasingly used in cosmetic products, olive oil is known to keep your skin healthy and beautiful. A good 15 minute massage with warm olive oil opens up the pores of your skin and provides you with a natural glow. It also plays an important role in the prevention of continuous oxidation, a process that influences the development of certain types of skin cancer. More over, olive oil is helpful in-

← Reducing stretchmarks and wrinkles Reducing hair loss Soothing diaper rash Curing eczema and other skin ailments naturally

So, just what makes Olive oil so popular, useful and necessary?

High amount of good fats: Olive oil contains large amount of monounsaturated fats (good fats), that can lower your risk of heart disease by reducing the total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels in your blood.

Antioxidant in nature: Olive oil contains beta carotene and tocopherol which are excellent buffers of acids resulting from body metabolism, especially those produced in the gastrointestinal tract. Extra virgin olive oil contains 88% of its vitamin E in the form of alpha-tocopherol that is easily synthesized by the body. These are very important antioxidants that prevent the oxidation of low density lipoproteins (bad cholesterol) and prevent arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease and cancer. Highest levels of polyphenols - a powerful antioxidant that can promote heart health – is also found in olive oil.

Daily consumption recommended:

Doctors recommend that forms of oil that are high in the level of saturated fats be replaced with olive oil. As per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),about two tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil per daycan reduce the risk of heart disease and prove to be healthy to the body.

The method of preparation

Olive oil is produced by the pressing or crushing of the olive fruit. Depending on how much processing the fruit undergoes, different grades of the oil are produced. The lower the processing, or refinement by heat and chemical treatments, the higher is the quality of the oil produced.

The levels of purity of Olive Oil

Based on the amount of refinement, Olive oil can be broadly divided into the pure and refined forms. The quality of olive oil is determined by the level of pressing that the olive fruit undergoes, and the amount of processing that is involved. The first pressing and the least processed form is considered to be the best variety of olive oil.

First Pressing:

The type of olive oil that gets extracted by the first pressing of good-quality olives is the top grade olive oil. Moreover, the oil is extracted by a traditional cold-pressing method, where no chemicals are used and only a small amount of heat is applied. It is the least processed, hence, it is known as “Extra virgin olive oil”.

Second Pressing:

The type of olive oil that gets extracted by the second pressing of the olives is the next best quality of olive oil. This form of oil is also extracted by the cold-pressing method, without the usage of chemicals. Very little heat is applied, though. Hence, this is known as “Virgin olive oil”.

Commercial grade

As this type of oil undergoes some form of processing, such as filtering and refining, it does not fall into the ‘Virgin’ variety. It is ‘pure' to the extent that it consists only of olive oil, but other than that it also contains the inferior oil that is left after the virgin oil has been removed. This oil is then refined using heat, chemical solvents, high pressure and filtration treatments. Finally, it is mixed with a small quantity of virgin olive oil to restore the colour and flavour. This gives it the name, “pure commercial-grade olive oil”.

Last pressing: The oil that is produced as a result of the last pressing of olives is highly refined, and undergoes multiple layers of processing. Because it contains very little of the natural olives, it is aptly called, “Light /extra light olive oil”.

Though all types of olive oil contain monounsaturated fat (healthy fats), the virgin variety of olive oil is the most heart healthy as it is the least processed.   

The health benefits of olive oil have been recognized by many ancient physicians, and modern nutritionists have been increasingly realizing and propagating the importance of olive oil in a person’s daily diet. So, the next time you see your mother cooking, ask her to try replacing the regular form of edible oil with olive oil and then see the difference for yourself!

Which type of olive oil is best for indian cooking?

So my general perception for quite a while is that people genuinely believe that Indian cuisine or Indian food doesn’t work with olive oil. I have heard comments like “olive oil smells funny” or the perennial classic, “it’s not part of our culture.” Googling recipes anywhere will prove that olive oil is used a lot these days but I really wanted to get to the heart of the matter.

So I googled “why indians don’t like olive oil” and came across a very snarky article called “Is Olive Oil Right For Us?” and I thought that would be a great start. Some of the gems from the article included:

For all its health benefits olive oil has always had one slight problem in India — it isn’t particularly suited to Indian food. We rarely eat uncooked oil — there are occasional recipes like the Bengali ones using raw mustard oil as a delicious pungent seasoning, but in general we always heat oil for our food, which rules out EVOO straightaway. Regular olive oil is also not so great at the high heat needed for something like a tadka, and it also tends to leave a heavy, greasy feeling. Several Indian chefs, under orders to use olive oil in their kitchens, have quietly moaned to me about its limitations. If I still eat Indian food at the Taj’s restaurants, which suffer under a particularly illogical ban on ghee in favour of olive oil, it’s because I know some chefs are still quietly using ghee as an essential flavouring for Indian food. I guess EVOO is short for extra virgin olive oil, he doesn’t say. The writer also talks about how the manufacturers also believe these ideas and therefore introduced, specifically for the Indian market, a derivative called olive pomace oil, branded as olive oil but cheaper. According to him:

Pomace is the residue left after first EVOO and then ordinary olive oil is pressed out. This greasy cake can then be processed further, using heat or chemical solvents like hexane, to extract a very crude oil that could be refined to edible grade, but no one advised I should eat it. Maybe use it to make soap, I was told. But pomace olive oil “is an ideal choice for Indian cooking.” Or here is Mr V N Dalmia, president of the Indian Olive Oil Association, in an interview taken from the Net: “Olive Pomace Oil reacts well to all types of Indian cooking: frying, roasting, grilling or

whatever. Olive Pomace Oil is a good substitute for the oils mainly used presently by the Indian consumer, i.e. sunflower, safflower, corn, soya, palm, etc. — all refined oils.” Make a long story short – do not believe everything you hear in the corporate mainstream media. We’ve been cooking in olive oil for years now and it doesn’t smell, it doesn’t do anything to the taste or smell of anything to do with Indian cooking. And best of all, it’s a globally known fact that olive is the healthiest oil to cook with.

The catchphrase that “Indians don’t like olive oil” or “olive oil and Indian cuisines don’t mix” is based off of half-truths and hearsay. Try it and you will know. And then we can start our own little catchphrase that says, “Indian cooking becomes healthier with olive oil.”