The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Healthiest Olive Oil

A raft of research suggests that olive oil is associated with heart health and an array of other benefits. Olive oil is also a key component of the Mediterranean diet, which is ranked No. 1 on U.S. News’ list of best diets overall for 2023 for the sixth consecutive year.

Extra-virgin and olive oil are both grades of olive oil, says Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne, an international olive oil consultant, judge, writer and educator based in Petaluma in Sonoma County, California. Extra-light tasting olive oil, she adds, is not a grade; rather, it is a marketing term. This oil, she notes, is milder and more neutral tasting than extra-virgin olive oil because it is a blend of predominantly refined olive oil with some virgin olive oil.

Healthiest Olive Oil

Deciphering the differences between various kinds of olive oil can seem complicated if you’re not a researcher or if you don’t work in the olive oil industry. However, deciding which type of olive oil is the healthiest isn’t complex, experts say. Extra-virgin olive oil is clearly the healthiest because it’s the one that’s the least processed, says Jack Bishop, chief creative officer of America’s Test Kitchen in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Extra-virgin olive oil, like all olive oil products, is extracted from olive pulp mechanically, without the use of chemical solvents, explains Joseph R. Profaci, New York City-based executive director of the North American Olive Oil Association. To qualify as extra virgin, however, the extraction must be produced without excessive heat, typically with a centrifugal press and no chemicals. This process is referred to as “cold pressing.”

The process of refining olive oil destroys most of the antioxidants in virgin olive oil, but the healthy fatty acid profile remains intact, Profaci explains. Extra-virgin olive oil, he adds, is never refined. Antioxidants are natural compounds that may shield your body from cellular damage associated with chronic diseases, such as cancer.

Olive Oil Grades

What is an olive oil grade? Grades indicate the type of product, Profaci says.

The higher the grade, the higher the quality, adds Devarenne, who is also director of Extra Virgin Alliance, an international group of producers dedicated to making high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. Extra-virgin olive oil, for instance, is considered to be the highest grade and the highest quality.

There’s no industry-wide standard for olive oil grades. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has voluntary standards for olive oil grades, and, Devarenne says, individual olive oil organizations list several grades of olive oil. The International Olive Council, for example, lists seven grades of olive oil fit for consumption.

“All this talk of standards can be confusing, but the important thing to know is that extra-virgin is the best tasting and healthiest choice,” Devarenne says.

Overall, at least 75% of the extra-virgin olive oil marketed in the U.S. is sold by companies that say they apply the IOC or USDA standards, Profaci notes. Four states, including New York and California, enforce their own olive oil regulations, he adds. However, there’s no federal governmental agency enforcing these standards.

In 2022, the North American Olive Oil Association, the American Olive Oil Producers Association and Deoleo, a multinational Spanish olive oil processing company, filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking for the establishment of a national standard of identity for olive oil. In other words, they requested regulations to ensure the purity and quality of olive oils in the U.S. The federal government has yet to take any action on it, Profaci says.

Health Benefits of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Extra-virgin olive oil is the healthiest kind of olive oil because it contains natural chemical compounds known as phenols or polyphenols, says Mary M. Flynn, a research dietitian at Miriam Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

“The phenols found in extra-virgin olive oil have (also) been shown to improve an impressive range of disease risk factors,” Flynn adds.

When it comes to improving those risk factors, phenols found in extra-virgin olive oil can contribute to:

For example, in a study published in the journal Biomolecules in January 2021, researchers suggest that extra-virgin olive oil “lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of developing hypertension” partly because of phenols. Similarly, the FDA determined that the oleic acid in edible oils – including olive oil – may lower the risk of coronary heart disease.

In addition, research published in December 2022 in the journal Nutrients suggests that consuming extra-virgin olive oil is associated with enhanced brain function in people with mild cognitive impairment. Researchers also concluded that extra-virgin olive oil consumption is associated with improved blood-barrier function. This is notable because abnormal blood-barrier permeability is associated with brain atrophy and dementia.

Mitigating Concerns About Olive Oil

Olive oil, like many oils, is a fat in liquid form. While fats are generally viewed as bad for your health, the kind of fat is what matters. Saturated fat and trans fat, for example, raise your blood cholesterol levels and are linked to cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. Monounsaturated fatty acids, however, may actually improve cholesterol levels, which can then decrease your risk of stroke and heart disease, the AHA notes. Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fat.

Moreover, consuming olive oil in moderation could help prolong your life, according to research published in January 2022 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers noted that higher consumption of olive oil was associated with lower risks of total cause and specific-cause mortality. They also determined that replacing butter, margarine, mayonnaise and dairy fat with olive oil was associated with a lower risk of mortality.

In recent years, some have also expressed concerns about olive oil’s smoke point and that heating olive oil to high temperatures could release harmful compounds, remove the oil’s healthy benefits and perhaps even pose health risks.

However, 2018 research published in Acta Scientific Nutritional Health suggests that extra-virgin olive oil is safe when cooked at high heat (just over 400 degrees Fahrenheit). Researchers also found it more chemically stable at higher temperatures than other common cooking oils.

Taking Advantage of Health Benefits

To maximize the health benefits of extra-virgin olive oil, experts recommend these strategies:

Buy directly, in stores or online, from the producer when possible

When you buy directly from the person who is making the oil – which will usually mean buying online if you’re outside the olive oil-producing areas of the U.S. – you have a greater assurance of attention to quality, Devarenne says. Many producers have a website that will tell you about their farm and products. Although some of the online sellers are just bottlers of other people’s oil, you can find online olive oil boutiques that carry a small range of high-quality imported and domestic extra-virgin olive oil straight from the producer. The gold standard is “estate production,” which denotes an extra-virgin olive oil grown and milled by the brand owner. However, a seal indicating “estate grown,” in which milling is done by a third party, is also good, Devarenne says.