Le Creuset

When it comes to stocking your kitchen with all of the essentials, none do it with as much style or functionality as Le Creuset. As one of the most recognized culinary brands in the world, Le Creuset has been making waves with their innovative cookware for more than 90 years.

Widely loved for the range of colors each product is offered in, Le Creuset adds vibrance and fun to any kitchen setting as well as the dinner table. Whether you’re already well acquainted and equipped with Le Creuset cookware and accessories at home, or this is your first time hearing about them, we wanted to dedicate this article to a brand that we hold very close to our hearts here at D’Olivo.

The History of Le Creuset

Believe it or not, before the 20th century, eating was primarily a private activity that was enjoyed either alone, or with family members at most. Viewed as nothing more than a necessity through the lens of society as a whole, even though everyone enjoyed a good meal, few ever spoke about it, let alone share their meals with others outside of their immediate family.

Thankfully, at the turn of the 20th century, the world as a whole had a dramatic shift in perspective as people and chefs alike began to break free of the private stigma that had been placed on dining for so long. Rather than eating because we had to, cooking started becoming an expression of joy as people and restaurants everywhere began changing the way they served meals.

Amidst this culinary renaissance, in 1925, Le Creuset was born and came to market with the very first enameled, flame color cast iron cocotte the world had ever seen. Capturing the eyes and hearts of people everywhere, Le Creuset helped to propel the culinary movement by inspiring enthusiasm and creativity.

Staying true to their founding principles of creating products of the highest quality through hand-crafted techniques, Le Creuset continued rolling out new colors and new lines of products in the decades that followed. By 1985, the brand had expanded its reach to countless countries, making the Le Creuset name a household and kitchen staple that could be found everywhere.

Today, Le Creuset has come out with multiple product lines that explore new designs and materials, ensuring they’re always ahead of the curve in culinary innovation.

Unwavering Quality

At the heart of the Le Creuset brand is their passion for empowering people everywhere to find joy through cooking. Since being founded more than 90 years ago, Le Creuset has continued to lead in the culinary world as a brand of extremely high, unwavering quality that is clearly evident in every product that they make.

Having become famous for their enameled cast iron range of products, which remains as their top selling line even today, Le Creuset continues to use the hand-crafted, original techniques for forging and casting. After each cast is complete, it’s then smoothed by hand and enameled, a process that includes 12 different steps and can take as long as 10 hours just for one item.

That being said, the same quality and attention to detail are poured into every other line of products and accessories they make as well. If that’s not enough to convince you that Le Creuset places quality above all else on their production line, you can take comfort in knowing that no less than fifteen people inspect every product before being marked as suitable for sale.

In fact, the company has reported that as much as 30% of their products get rejected due to imperfections, only to be melted back down and recycled into new products. Another factor that speaks to the quality of Le Creuset’s cookware is the level of versatility, particularly in the cast iron line. Many of their products can be used for countless tasks in the kitchen, helping you save precious cabinet space while cooking to perfection each and every time.

With more than 300 million products sold worldwide, when you’re looking for cookware that will last a lifetime, Le Creuset easily stands a notch above the rest.

Kitchen Products For Every Need

Having come a long way since the creation of their original French oven, Le Creuset has since expanded to encompass a variety of cookware, bakeware, and kitchen utensils. Under the cookware category, you can choose from any number of sections including skillets, fry pans, sets, braisers, kettles, stockpots, saucepans, griddles, roasting pans, specialty cookware, and even accessories.

Even better, each of the products they carry can be further narrowed down by sorting material, color, and even price. Browsing through bakeware and kitchen utensils, you’ll find just about everything else you could ever imagine or need to complete your home kitchen.

Looking for supplies and products for use outside of the kitchen? They’ve got you covered there as well with an accommodating range of tabletop items that carry the same quality Le Creuset is known for.

Le Creuset at D’Olivo

Here at D’Olivo we’re proud to be the only store in region to carry the Le Creuset brand. Giving our customers the perfect opportunity to see and feel the evident quality in all of their products first hand. We feel Le Creuset is one of the few cookware brands whose values and beliefs align with ours here at D’Olivo so the next time you’re in our area, be sure to swing by and check out our full kitchen department including our Le Creuset products.

November 29, 2018

Food and Kitchenware Demo – Friday, November 30

Join us this Friday, November 30th for a food and kitchenware demo, making compound butters and more!

Time: 2:00pm – 6:00pm

Our very own Bob Kelly with Bulkley Associates will be demonstrating our butter churns and many of our featured kitchenwares.

November 19, 2018

Black Friday Deals!

Hourly Sales
10:00am -11:00am: 25% off Cuisinart
12:00pm – 1:00pm: 15% off all Bubbles
2:00pm – 3:00pm: 15% off Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars
4:00pm – 5:00pm: Buy a bag of Tea and you can buy a Silicon Tea Infuser At 50$ off

All Day Sales (While Supplies Last)

USA Pans– 20% off Mini Sheet pans

Le Creuset– Spend $100 and receive their Hard-Bound cookbook “The Cast Iron Way to Cook”
Spend over $200 and receive the cookbook and a 4-piece set of their Dutch Oven Refrigerator magnets

Wusthof Sales
Classic 6” Cook’s Knife $59.99, Classic Ikon 6” Cook’s Knife $89.99
Classic 5” Tomato Knife $59.99, Classic Ikon 5” Tomato Knife $89.99
Classic 5” Serrated Utility Knife $59.99, Classic Ikon 5” Serrated Utility Knife $89.99
Classic 4 ½” Asian Utility Knife $49.99
Classic 2 pc Mini Asian Set $99.99, Classic Ikon Mini Asian Set $139.99
Classic 9” Double Serrated Bread Knife $79.99
Classic Ikon 9” Serrated Bread Knife $199.99
Classic 7” Santoku $79.99, Classic Ikon 7” Santoku $119.99
Totally Bamboo 20% off 20” Bamboo Carving Board
**One day only sale. Limited supply and no rain checks available.

July 26, 2018July 26, 2018

How to Tell if Your Olive Oil is Fake

Considered the healthiest fat in the world, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has won over the hearts of millions of Americans across the nation. Loved for its exquisite flavor that can add a touch of excitement to thousands of dishes, EVOO also offers a range of health benefits thanks to the rich composition of omega-3’s, antioxidants, and polyphenols. In fact, extra virgin olive oil is one of the few foods that has been approved by the FDA to advertise specific health claims on the label – the same scrutinizing process that new medications have to go through!

All of that being said, unfortunately, due to the worldwide popularity of EVOO, it also happens to be one of the most counterfeited and adulterated foods in history. A study by the UC Davis Olive Center actually found that as much as 69% of all imported extra virgin olive oils fail to meet the internationally accepted standards. Countries all over the world are making these discoveries, including a fraud ring that Italian authorities discovered in December of 2015 that sold 7,000 tons of falsely labeled EVOO that was worth tens of millions.

To help make sure you don’t fall victim to fake EVOO, we’ve created this simple guide that helps you distinguish between fakes and the real thing.

What Makes Olive Oil Fake?

Counterfeiting can occur at any point along the production track particularly because olive oil that’s extracted in one country is oftentimes shipped to another and blended with oils from various origins before being bottled. Though there are multiple ways the EVOO can be adulterated, there are two primary methods that get used.

In the worst case scenario, extra virgin olive oil gets blended with other, cheaper oils such as soybean and seed oil to increase the yield prior to bottling. Not only does this greatly diminish the beneficial properties present in EVOO, but it also changes the taste.

The more common practice that counterfeiting brands use is blending EVOO with other olive oil that’s been sitting around for a prolonged period of time. In some cases, this oil can more than a year old and long past the consumption date, once again ruining the flavor and health benefits.

1. Look for Relevant Information on the Label
Looking past the labeled origin of olive oil (which can also be fake), there are multiple pieces of information to look out for that can help tell you whether or not the EVOO is real or fake. As any true EVOO producer knows, one of the most important factors is the harvest date since that ultimately tells consumers whether or not the oil is fresh or bad.

When brands fail to list this on the label, there is no true way of telling when the olive oil was harvested, increasing the chances that you’re getting an adulterated or rancid product. It’s also good to look for an estate or mill name on the label. Because most counterfeiting brands omit this information, it’s safe to say only high quality producers will tend to do it.

2. Only Buy “Extra Virgin” Olive Oil
When looking at olive oil in supermarkets, there’s no shortage of different brands and types for consumers to choose from. Some of these include terms like “light” and “pure”, or maybe even just “olive oil”, all of which have been excessively processed and potentially adulterated. Unless you’re specifically buying “extra virgin”, it’s almost guaranteed that you’re getting a lesser quality product.

This means you will get little to no health benefits from the oil itself, whereas with extra virgin olive oil that comes from the first press, as long as it’s authentic and fresh, you’ll enjoy a plethora of beneficial properties, and, of course, better flavor. This is a quick way to immediately narrow down a large portion of the options you have, so make sure you only stick to extra virgin.

3. Look For Certification Seals
Here, we’re not talking about the made up labels that many brands will put on their own olive oils to make them look more authentic, we’re talking about seals of certification from a reputable third party. By far, the two most reputable seals to look out for, serving as very good signs that the EVOO is authentic and real, are from the European Union’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and the California Olive Oil Council. Both of these organizations have incredibly strict requirements and testing that must be fulfilled before a brand can bear their seals, adding an extra level of protection for consumers.

4. Pay Attention to Packaging
Label aside, extra virgin olive oil is also susceptible to UV radiation and degradation when exposed to sunlight. While many brands will use clear glass or plastic to bottle their EVOO so that consumers can see the color as a way to convey quality, neither are actually the best choice. Since olive oil is prone to UV radiation, higher end producers will bottle their oil with darker colored glass such as brown or green to help preserve the oil. That’s not to say that there aren’t true EVOO’s that are bottled in clear glass (we actually carry a few ourselves!), but they must be properly stored and cared for.

5. Put Your EVOO in the Refrigerator
While this isn’t a fool-proof test by any means, extra virgin olive oil contains mostly monounsaturated fats which should thicken when exposed to colder temperatures. After a short while in the fridge, if you have true extra virgin olive oil, you should notice that the liquid has become more viscous and even a bit cloudy. When EVOO has been cut with lesser quality oils, it reduces the monounsaturated fat concentration which can result in olive oil that remains fully liquid when exposed to cooler temperatures. If your olive oil doesn’t thicken at all, that’s a pretty good sign that it’s a fake.

June 25, 2018June 19, 2018

About Veronica Foods

Since starting the D’Olivo brand and to this day, it’s been our goal to provide customers with nothing but the highest quality olive oil. During our initial search for a supplier, we were fortunate enough to stumble across Veronica Foods and learn that their mission aligned with ours perfectly – make the finest, freshest, and broadest selection of extra virgin olive oil in the world. By exclusively carrying their olive oil products, we’ve been able to spread the beneficial properties and amazing flavors of olive oil to thousands of customers year after year.

To learn about what makes Veronica Foods olive oil so special, we have to first look back at their humble beginnings in 1942, when the company was founded. After 47 years with less than 1% of the company’s business coming from olive oil, the founder’s daughter, Veronica, and her husband, Michael Bradley, took the family reigns and decided to focus on olive oil in a more serious and committed way.

Though they knew little about olive oil or how they would grow the business, Veronica and Michael spent years traveling the olive oil producing regions of the world, tasting hundreds of different styles to expand their knowledge and explore new methods. By 1998, their dream became reality when they purchased their own olive grove and state-of-the-art crushing mill so they could test and evaluate methods learned during their travels to begin producing olive oil of the highest quality.

Today, Veronica Foods continues to produce the finest conventional, organic, and fused whole fruit citrus olive oil from their mill in Tunisia, importing more than 1 million gallons each year to supply hundreds of specialty retail shops throughout the United States. Outside of producing their own olive oil from their grove in Tunisia, Veronica Foods has also formed many exclusive alliances with small regional mills that are unable to expand into the US market alone, helping to introduce American’s to many unique olive oil varieties for the first time.

Before even being able to sell Veronica Foods olive oil, stores must first go through an intensive educational seminar to ensure they know everything there is to know about their olive oil and the beneficial properties it provides to customers. They place a heavy focus on educating consumers about the quality and benefits of their oil by including figures such as polyphenol count, oleic acid percentage, and, most importantly, the harvest date.

While many brands omit this kind of information from labeling, Veronica Foods hopes to shift the consensus of the consumer market from caring about the origins of olive oil to caring about the harvest date by being fully transparent about the qualities of the oil they sell. This is especially important to customers that enjoy their olive oil for nutraceutical purposes and look to take advantage of all the beneficial properties including disease prevention.

Unfortunately, this is not the only challenge that the olive oil market faces. The widespread problem of mislabeled and adulterated product has been going on for years as large name brands blend their olive oil with lesser oils to increase output and maximize profits at the cost of greatly minimizing or completely eliminating the beneficial properties of olive oil. By staying true to their mission of delivering nothing but the finest and freshest olive oil in the world, Veronica Foods continues to be the shining example we proudly source all of our oil from.

June 18, 2018

All About Aromatic Bitters and How to Use Them

If you’re like most people, the first thing you think of when you hear the word “bitter” is someone who’s miserable, angry, and generally not very happy. While all of that may be true by definition, aromatic bitters can introduce you to a whole new world of unique, complex flavors that enliven drinks and dishes of all kinds. Having recently come back into the spotlight thanks to the surge of interest in craft cocktails, aromatic bitters actually have a number of health benefits and culinary uses just waiting to be explored.

What Are Aromatic Bitters?

Aromatic bitters are flavored extracts made from infusing herbs, bark, roots, fruits, and flowers in flavorless alcohol to create a concentrated formula. Because it’s made from ingredients that are incredibly bitter by themselves, it only takes a few dashes at most to have the complex flavor profiles fully infused into your beverage or dish.

Believe it or not, aromatic bitters have actually been around since the ancient times where they were traditionally used as a digestive aid and to treat all kinds of ailments. In fact, traces of aromatic bitters have even been found along the insides of pots and jugs throughout Roman and ancient Egyptian history.

Though they’re still widely used for holistic purposes around the world, in the United States, bitter flavors have all but disappeared from the modern diet. Sadly, the natural bitter flavors found in many foods have become replaced with salt and sugar as the demand for these kinds of cuisines continues to drive unhealthy products onto shelves.

How to Use Aromatic Bitters

While almost any Google search on aromatic bitters will turn up countless results for various alcoholic beverages that use this powerful flavoring agent, they can also be used for their health benefits and to spice up your favorite dishes. That’s right, it turns out the powerful herbal and botanical ingredients used to make aromatic bitters can actually be used as a remedy for digestive problems of all kinds.

When taken, the strong flavor profiles of aromatic bitters are known to stimulate saliva production and increase the secretions of gastric juices and bile to help your body digest better. Though there is little evidence to back it up, some doctors and homeopathic experts suggest that the obesity problem in the United States stems from widespread poor digestive health and the lack of naturally bitter foods in our diets.

To take advantage of the many health benefits aromatic bitters offer, simply take a teaspoon before or after each meal to help with problems such as poor appetite, sluggishness, and bloating. Because they’re so potent, you can also mix a teaspoon of aromatic bitters with soda water to make it more palatable. If you’re feeling a little adventurous, try out different mixtures to come up with your own digestive health boosting beverage.

Of course, aromatic bitters have so much more to offer aside from digestive aid thanks to their incredibly diverse flavor profiles. Below, we’ve covered a few fun and exciting recipes you can try out that incorporate bitters.

Aromatic Bitters Recipes

1. Salad Dressing With a Bitter Twist

Whether you’re a salad fanatic or the occasional herbivore, aromatic bitters work exceptionally well in dressings. The healthy mixture of greens – some of which may be naturally bitter, such as kale – are are the perfect pallet for introducing all kinds of flavors ranging from sweet and spicy to salty and bold. Simply adding a few dashes of aromatic bitters to your favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing will instantly elevate your salad to a whole new level of tasty.

2. Not Your Average Bowl of Ice Cream

While you’re welcome to try this one out with any ice cream flavor, we find that it works best when sticking with the timeless classic – vanilla. Acting like a blank canvas, the natural sweetness of ice cream and its creamy texture are perfect for experimenting with different flavors. Put a few scoops of ice cream in a bowl followed by some sliced fruit to set the stage. Next, add a few dashes of bitters and mix if you’d like to get a pleasantly tasty surprise.

3. Soup for the Adventurous

Soups are an excellent dish for enhancing with aromatic bitters simply because they can be as simple or complex as you would like. Whether working with store bought cans or your own recipe, bitters blend exceptionally well with creamy and vegetable based soups. Start out with just a dash or two and mix well to see how the flavors are blending before adding more. Then, simply adjust accordingly to create a soup with new levels of depth and complexity.

June 12, 2018

Biophenols vs. Phenols

There has been a lot of confusion lately about Biophenols versus Phenols since we’ve been switching over to the new system on Fusti Tags. Phenols have to do with the sensory information of the oil, but Biophenols is a recognized system for testing that carries a lot of weight. Please read this Biophenol letter for some in depth information that will help expand your knowledge on this:

BIOPHENOLS PROFILE
As science developed, we have learned that a significant amount of health attributes related to extra virgin olive oil are not only linked to its profile rich in monounsaturated fatty acids but also to its biophenol content. In the early days, total biophenol content was simply measured by measuring the reaction of this complex group of substances with a colorant (Folin-Ciocalteau). The darker the blue colour developed from the reaction, the higher the level of biophenols. The actual level of biophenols was determined by a comparative scale measuring how much colour was developed by known quantities of a standard phenol (either caffeic acid or garlic acid). Even when this method provided a reasonable indication, it was far from perfect as all different phenols react to the colorant in different ways. Furthermore, it did not tell us anything about the different groups of biophenols. As we know now, some of those biophenols have very specific health and sensory properties (i.e. Oleocanthal, which has important antinflammatory action and it is responsible for the pungent feeling on the back of the throat).
Even when there are no limit for polyphenols in international standards, they are very effective antioxidants in olive oil and contribute significantly to oxidative stability, shelf life and health claims. Given the growing importance of these antioxidants, a new and more precise measuring method has been developed. This method utilises High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is a form of column chromatography that pumps a sample mixture or analyte (in this case EVOO) in a solvent (known as the mobile phase) at high pressure through a column with chromatographic packing material (stationary phase). The sample is carried by a moving carrier gas stream of helium or nitrogen. HPLC has the ability to separate, and identify compounds that are present in any sample that can be dissolved in a liquid in trace concentrations as low as parts per trillion. Sample retention time (the time that it takes for each biophenol to exit the column) will vary depending on the interaction between the stationary phase, the molecules being analyzed, and the solvent, or solvents used. As the sample passes through the column it interacts between the two phases at different rate, primarily due to different polarities in the analytes. Analytes that have the least amount of interaction with the stationary phase or the most amount of interaction with the mobile phase will exit the column faster. A detector at the point of exit determines when and how much of each biophenol is sensed. The total amount of biophenols in this method is determined by adding the individual quantities of each measured biophenol.

There are typically more than 20 different biophenols in extra virgin olive oil. The prevalent classes of hydrophilic phenols found in EVOO are phenolic alcohols and acids (i.e. Hydroxytyrosol and vanillic acid), flavonoids (i.e. luteonin), lignans (i.e. pinoresinol) and secoiridoids. Among these substances the last two classes include the most concentrate phenols of EVOO. Secoiridoids, like aglycone derivatives of oleuropein, demethyloleuropein and ligstroside, are present in olive fruit as most abundant EVOO phenolic antioxidants. Several important biological properties (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive and anti-cancer) and the characteristic pungent and bitter tasty properties have been attributed to EVOO phenols.

Leandro Ravetti
Technical Director BOUNDARY BEND OLIVES

June 1, 2018June 2, 2018

About Our Owner – Roni Hosfeld

At D’Olivo, our mission is quite simple – help people discover the many health benefits of ultra-premium olive oil and true balsamic vinegars so they can live a healthier, tastier lifestyle. Though our focus originally started with high-quality olive oils, over the years, we’ve procured a wide selection of holistic and local products that can help our customers achieve just that. On any given day, you can walk into our Walla Walla location and get lost on an informative yet delicious tasting tour, or simply browse around for some new, benefit-rich products that can help you work toward personal health goals. In this article, we’re going to share with you the story of our owner, Roni Hosfeld, and the amazing journey she made to bring the D’Olivo brand from its humble beginnings to where it is today.

Most people these days think of olive oil as nothing more than a kitchen ingredient used for cooking that can be bought at popular supermarkets. To Roni Hosfeld, this was very much her way of thinking as well, until one fateful trip to Colorado. An unexpected detour landed her in a small oil shop that opened her eyes to the world of olive oil for the very first time. Though Roni didn’t know it then, this brief experience would change her life and serve as the foundation for the D’Olivo brand.

Roni, who had been working in public service for over 20 years, let the idea of starting her own oil shop fall to the wayside as a pipe dream. However, in May of 2013, Roni received an exciting call that opened the door for D’Olivo. Jumping at the opportunity, in less than two months time, Roni had to design the store’s layout, order product, and essentially build the D’Olivo brand from the ground up while still continuing to work at a local winery. It was during this time that Roni stumbled across Veronica Foods, a leading distributor of ultra-premium olive oils around the world and the company we still source all of our oil from today.

In order to sell Veronica Foods olive oil, Roni had to go through a detailed background check and intensive training program, all of which she admits was more than worth it due to the unwavering quality of their oils. With product handled, she then undertook the momentous task of hiring staff members that would not only represent the D’Olivo brand, but love doing it. By still following her philosophy of training and equipping each employee with the tools and knowledge they need to do the job, all of our staff members play the role of both tour guide and teacher to every customer that walks through our doors.

For Roni, in addition to educating everyone she comes into contact with about the many health benefits of ultra-premium olive oils, she’s also constantly looking for new ways to meet the needs of the Walla Walla Valley community while staying true to the D’Olivo brand. This is ultimately what urged Roni to offer a new line of skin care products sourced directly from the Olive Oil Skin Care Company in Australia. Understanding that olive oil is also beneficial for the skin and hair, Roni wanted to continue offering customers more holistic products that would allow them to achieve their goals the natural, healthy way.

From the beginning, when she was still splitting her time between the store and a winery job, Roni was brainstorming countless ideas that she could use to help D’Olivo grow while building a continued relationship with customers. Using her experience in the wine industry, she decided that the best way to do this was to start the brand’s very own olive oil and vinegar club. Marking a big step forward, the club allows customers to subscribe and receive four quarterly shipments of olive oils and vinegars that they can handpick themselves.

With a constantly expanding inventory of delicious oils and vinegars, this is one of the best ways to experience all the D’Olivo brand has to offer. As a club member, you’ll have the luxury of tailoring your experience with three different levels that offer between two to four bottles of oil or vinegar each quarter. In addition to receiving the oils and vinegars of your choice, members can also enjoy a handpicked gift from Roni herself as an extra treat each quarter.

Today, Roni still works just as hard as she did when D’Olivo was first founded to ensure the brand reflects her passion and dedication to the products and customers. On any given day, you’ll find her greeting customers with a warm smile, striking up laughter filled conversations, and helping everyone find the perfect olive oils and vinegars. So, the next time you find yourself in Walla Walla Valley, be sure to stop by and have your eyes opened to the world of olive oil in very much the same way it was for our owner, Roni Hosfeld.

April 9, 2018November 13, 2019

The Benefits of Olive Oil in Skin Care

Do your hair, skin, and nails look their best? While it’s often easy to get lost talking about the countless health benefits olive oil carries for the body internally, it can be just as helpful when used externally. Whether you have hair that’s lost its lustrous shine, nails and cuticles that could use some work, or skin that’s starting to feel dry and lack radiance, olive oil and its unique, nutrient dense properties can work wonders for skin health.

In this article, we’re going to explore the various ways that olive oil can help the skin, as well as how you can use it on a daily basis to ensure you’re looking your best.

How Olive Oil Helps The Skin

Even though it’s most commonly found in the kitchen and used for cooking, the holistic properties of olive oil extend far beyond culinary purposes. In fact, olive oil has been used for skin care since the ancient times to help the hair and skin appear more healthy. Below, we’ve covered the top scientifically backed benefits of using olive oil externally.

Antioxidant Protection

Just as your body has an immune system that protects you from viruses and illnesses that you’re exposed to, the skin also needs a protective layer to not only ensure it’s looking its best, but to guard you against harmful ultraviolet radiation. Of all the antioxidants that olive oil is packed with, the big three are vitamin E, polyphenols, and phytosterols.

Due to the high concentration of these nutrients, studies have found that when olive oil is applied topically to the skin (particularly vitamin E), it can help to revitalize smoothness and protect you from the harmful effects of UV light. It’s because of these powerful skin care benefits that olive oil is often hailed as one of the best products to prevent premature aging.

Outside of direct beauty effects, olive oil also helps protect you from developing skin cancer. While it’s certainly no replacement for sunscreen if you’re going to be enjoying a day at the beach, hydroxytyrosol, a rare phytochemical with powerful antioxidant properties, has been shown to protect the skin from free radical damage.

It Moisturizes the Skin

If you’ve been the victim of dry skin, then you already know how frustrating it can be to treat. The most common culprits of dryness are hot and cold climates that can actually suck moisture away, reducing the skins luminous appearance. Worse yet, while many popular commercial moisturizers may help your skin feel better in the short term, a lot of them actually clog pores and make skin problems worse over time.

Olive oil serves as a nutrient rich cocktail for the skin, penetrating deeply while nourishing and cleansing the different layers as it sinks in. This not only provides your skin with the various nutrients it needs to look its best, but it also allows it to breathe. Together, these two benefits help heal the skin over time rather than offer a short-term solution.

Lastly, because olive oil is rich in linoleic acid, a fatty acid that cannot be produced by the body, as well as sebum, a protective substance that’s formed from a mixture of natural oils, it can help prevent water evaporation from the surface of your skin. Together, these two substances create a protective layer over the skin so you can enjoy more of the outdoors without worrying about dry, cracked skin as a consequence.

It Keeps Your Hair Healthy

Having been used for thousands of years to help increase shine, volume, and softness, olive oil can work wonders for your hair. One of the top reasons olive oil works so well with hair is because it’s packed with emollients like oleic acid, palmitic acid, and squalene. These natural nutrients act as softening agents and are even replicated in many commercial conditioners.

In addition to making your hair feel softer, the moisturizing effect of olive oil is also thought to strengthen the hair by replenishing the scalp with the nutrients it needs to produce healthy hair. In fact, vitamin E has been shown to help prevent hair loss by reducing the natural oxidative stress that the scalp experiences from day to day.

How to Use Olive Oil For Skin Health

Now that we’ve covered the benefits you can reap from olive oil when used externally, let’s talk about the different ways you can use it to enjoy the radiant skin you deserve.

1. Use it as a Pre-Shampoo Treatment

Due to its moisturizing properties and rich abundance of vitamin E, olive oil can help to prevent split ends, nourish the scalp, and make your hair easier to manage. To utilize it as a pre-shampoo treatment, simply work a small amount into your hair 20 minutes prior to washing. When done, enjoy softer hair with more radiant shine.

2. Use it to Remove Makeup

Believe it or not, common makeup removers can actually be harmful to the skin, drying it out and destroying precious nutrients that are present on the surface. Olive oil is a great alternative because oil naturally grabs onto other oil-based products and can gently remove makeup from the face without causing damage.

3. Good for Cuticle Health & Nail Growth

Olive oil helps prevent the cuticles from drying out and cracking (leading to them growing back thicker and more pronounced). This makes them easier to manage and prevents the growth of bacteria by providing the nails with everything they need to grow beautiful and strong. Simply apply a drop to each nail and massage it in before bed for the best results.

4. Acts as an Anti-Inflammatory

If you’re experiencing irritated or inflamed skin, olive oil has long been known for its anti-inflammatory properties. This is perfect if you have dry or itchy skin as well, helping to nourish the irritated area with much needed nutrients the natural way without harsh OTC medications. Gently apply a small amount of olive oil over the affected area and let it work it’s magic!

For additional information about olive oil in skincare check visit our skincare page

March 20, 2018November 13, 2019

The Truth About Cooking With Olive Oil

Cooking oil has been around for thousands of years, tracing all the way back to when man first discovered fire. Whether used as a simple salad dressing or for adding some crunchy goodness to your favorite cuisines, cooking oil has become a kitchen staple. Now, as great as oils are for adding some culinary diversity to your diet, if you’re not using the right kind, you can actually end up doing your body more harm than good.

Without knowing why certain oils are better for you than others, a simple trip to the grocery store can quickly become a scavenger hunt for the product that provides you with the best value. In this article, we’re going to explore in-depth the many health benefits of cooking with olive oil as opposed to other popular alternatives such as canola and soybean oil.

Dangers of Cooking With the Wrong Oil

Though many cooking oils can appear to look the same, the important differentiator is their fat content. While we will go more into detail in the next section, the types of fat molecules that an oil consists of will ultimately affect its stability and heat resistance. This is why different oils start to smoke at different temperatures, also known as their smoke point.

When fats and oils are exposed to heat, their molecular structure can actually become damaged and lead to the creation of harmful compounds like aldehydes and lipid peroxides, both of which have been linked to cancer development. This is most commonly observed in vegetable oils like canola and soybean due to their high concentration of polyunsaturated fats.

Furthermore, when oils high in polyunsaturated fat become heated to their smoke point, the fats begin to breakdown and vaporize, creating harmful fumes that have been shown to contribute to the development of lung cancer.

Understanding the Different Types of Fat

Saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated are the three types of fat that can be found in cooking oils. Depending on the kind of cooking oil you buy, the concentrations of each will vary. The important differentiator between the three is the existence of double bonds which are susceptible to heat, serving as the precursors to many of the carcinogenic compounds formed during the cooking process.

Saturated fats (coconut oil) have zero double bonds, monounsaturated fats (olive oil) have just one double bond, and polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oil) have multiple double bonds. The breakdown occurs during the cooking process when heat causes double bonds to react with oxygen. However, even though monounsaturated fats possess a double bond, studies have actually found that they’re resistant to heat-induced degradation as opposed to polyunsaturated fats which have the highest rates of oxidation when cooked with.

Why Olive Oil is the Best to Cook With

Even though saturated fats offer the best resistance to oxidation due to their lack of double bonds, high intake of this kind of fat has been shown to increase your risk of heart disease or stroke. Olive oil, extra virgin in particular, is well-known for being healthier than other cooking oil alternatives due to its high concentration of monounsaturated fats and antioxidants. In fact, one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on average consists of 75% monounsaturated fat, 13% saturated fat, and just 12% polyunsaturated fat.

Extra virgin olive oil is obtained from the first press of olives, allowing it to retain many of the natural bioactive compounds and antioxidants. It’s the antioxidant rich nature of extra virgin olive oil that allows it to protect itself, as well as your body once consumed, from oxidative damage during the cooking process.

To further support this claim, a study was conducted with various cooking oils to observe the level of oxidation each undergoes when exposed to deep frying temperatures. After 24 hours, of all the oils tested, extra virgin olive oil was found to resist oxidation the most, surprisingly retaining the majority of its beneficial properties.

Different Olive Oil Cooking Methods

While extra virgin olive oil is the best of the cooking oils, its health benefits can vary depending on the cooking method you use.

Deep Frying

Surprisingly, deep frying is the method of cooking that allows olive oil to retain the highest levels of bioactive compounds and beneficial properties, even after multiple rounds of use. Generally, you want to keep fried foods to a minimum, but if you’re going to indulge, olive oil is the way to go. Thanks to the abundance of antioxidants in olive oil, it’s been found that deep fried foods actually become enriched with the oil’s phenols.

Pan Frying

Pan frying is by far one of the most popular cooking methods in which oils are used. Though the olive oil does not retain as many of its beneficial properties as it would if used for deep frying (likely due to an oxygen rich atmosphere), it still is shown to degrade the slowest of all the oils and enrich cooked foods with antioxidants.

Roasting

Roasting is another popular cooking method in which oil can be used to help give food a deliciously crisp crust. Of the oils you can cook with, once again, extra virgin olive oil has been found to resist oxidation the best due to its tocopherol concentration.

Closing Words

Hopefully, by now, you should be a cooking oil expert! Whether you’ve been using olive oil for years or you’re finally deciding to make the switch, it’s never too late to begin reaping the numerous health benefits this powerful natural product has to offer.

At D’Olivo, we understand the numerous health benefits of olive oil, which is why we’re so passionate about spreading its holistic (and delicious) properties to as many people as we can. If you haven’t already, take a look at our selection of ultra premium extra virgin olive oils and begin cooking the healthy way!