Eat Happy Mondays - choose good olive oil.

Your choice of olive oil will make or break the quality of the vinaigrette you use it in. It can also have tremendous ramifications for your health. The better quality, and the fresher your olive oil, the better the health benefits you can gain from including it in your diet. 

A recent meta-analysis of 18 independent studies showed that conformity to the Mediterranean Diet (high in olive oil) confers consistent protection against cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and overall mortality.  This is clearly evidence to recommend this lifestyle to anyone who wishes to age in good health while enjoying their food. 

Beautiful olive tree

The Mediterranean diet is plant-based and full of antioxidant rich foods, which means a high intake of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, and olive oil, combined with a moderate intake of fish and alcohol (usually wine), and a low intake of dairy, meat and meat products, and sweets. Basically how I try to eat!

But how your olive oil is made is so important. It's easy to buy a bottle without really knowing what you're getting. If you're in California, you can benefit from local growers and the California Olive Oil Council label, so you can be sure of where your olives were grown and where your oil was made. 

Wherever you live, your finest olive oils will be labelled extra-virgin, which means no chemicals or extreme heat were used in the production process. Ideally, the bottle you buy should provide a harvest date and a bottling date so you know how fresh it is - try to buy within 18 months from the harvest at the most, and consume within 30 days of opening for best taste and freshness.

Olive oil at the mill

Remember to store your olive oil in a dark bottle, away from light and heat to avoid oxidation and preserve it as long as possible. Want to learn more about olive oil? There's an International Olive Oil School  (that has webinars) where you can learn advanced tasting techniques, food pairings, and most importantly, how to know a high quality oil when you taste one. And here's a great quick online guide to tasting olive oils and what to look for.