At this point, you probably already know that science has a consensus about olive oil – extra virgin olive oil is the best dietary source of fat. You also know that not all bottles that are sold as “extra virgin” are truly that. The industry is not properly regulated and sometimes it is hard to get the real facts through all the noise.
Let’s talk price – most extra virgin olive oils you would see on the store shelves, cost between $25-$50 per liter (that is 33.8 oz). If you come across an oil that is cheaper than that, it is very likely that it’s either not real extra virgin to start with, or because of cost-cutting measures it is no longer of the quality that it was intended to be in when bottled by the producer (such as sub-par storage, transport, or inappropriate bottling).
How about more expensive olive oils? Is their price justified? Are they worth it? The Governor olive oils (both the Premium and Limited editions) are examples of such oils.
This is where the phenolic concentration of the EVOO comes to play. Producing medicinal quality high-phenolic olive oil costs at least 4-5 times more than the average extra virgin olive oil.
So paying more than $50 per litter of olive oil only makes sense if you get more health benefits from it. But do you really need to invest more in a healthier olive oil?
There is no easy answer to that, since every person’s circumstances are different – scientists, nutritionists, and physicians agree that high phenolic olive oil provides health benefits that standard (even good) EVOO does not.
In my opinion, as a scientists and biomedical researcher, you should consider switching to high phenolic olive oil and paying a premium if you fall under one of these three categories:
- You are suffering from, recovering from, or at risk for a serious health condition, for which high phenolic olive oil can provide benefit. Some of those conditions include: cancer, Alzheimer’s or other neurodegenerative disease, hypertension or other heart / cardiovascular conditions, diabetes (especially type 2), and any inflammatory disease.
- You are in good physical health, but want to invest in a healthy lifestyle and a proven nutritional approach to lower your risk of health issues later in life
- Some parents of kids who are on the Autism spectrum report that high phenolic olive oil is beneficial in treating some associated symptoms especially in the behavioral and verbal domains. To date, there is not enough scientific data to confirm this claim, and it is not clear whether any olive oil can support ASD symptoms or whether high phenolic oils provide extra benefit.
Depending on your reason for using high-phenolic olive oil, you might want to consume about 1-4 tablespoons daily. This equals to about $2-$8 per day of our highest quality oil.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly, or comment below.
To your health,
Dr. Goren
