Does Cooking Olive Oil Destroy Its Health Benefits?

Like many cooking oils, olive oil is a mixture of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fatty acids. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats help decrease the cholesterol level in your blood and protect against heart diseases. In contrast, saturated fats tend to raise the “bad” cholesterol. The percentage of these fatty acids varies in different oils. On average, it is estimated that olive oil consists of 14% of saturated fats, 11% of polyunsaturated and 60 – 80% of monounsaturated fats (oleic acid).

What makes olive oil good for your health is its high percentage of oleic acid. This monounsaturated fat helps protect the heart and seems to lower the risk of cancer. Olive oil also has heart-healthy flavonoid antioxidants and vitamin E. Moreover, olive oil is the only oil to contain high amounts of β-sitosterol, a substance that prevents the absorption of cholesterol by the intestine.

The answer to this question is: NO.

When any oil is heated above certain temperature, called “smoke point”, it breaks down to potentially harmful substances and loses its beneficial properties. This means that the health benefits of olive oil will be destroyed only when it’s cooked above its smoke point. The smoke point varies between different types of olive oil. The more refined it is, the higher the smoke point.

Olive oil has a relatively high smoke point, and can therefore be heated to relatively high temperatures before it starts to smoke. Most cooking and frying is usually done below that temperature, which means that it will not destroy its health benefits. It will only change its flavor, because the heating will evaporate the alcohols and esters which make up the delicate taste and fragrance of olive oil.

Depending on where you look for the answer of this question, you may get many different values. All industry groups promoting certain type of cooking oil will claim that their products have the highest smoke point and will list different values for olive oil (usually lower). A random website or blog, on the other hand, will tell you a completely different story. So, who should you trust for the real smoke point? Your best bet is an inter-governmental organization or scientific journal.

• According to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) in Madrid, Spain, the olive oil's smoke point is 210°C (410˚F).
• Similar value is given also by the Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils (ISEO) in the UK - 216°C (420˚F)

According to IOOC, olive oil is also a very stable fat and keeps its nutritional value better than other oils. This is due to its antioxidants and high levels of oleic acid. Therefore, it is perfect for baking, sautéing, grilling and even frying (the ideal temperature for frying food is 180ºC/ 356 ˚F).

The smoke point of olive oil will depend on the quality of oil (extra virgin or virgin), the growing conditions of the olives, the processing method etc. In general, well-filtered olive oils have a higher smoke point.

• Light
• Oxygen
• Storage temperature

Olive oil is very resistant to self-oxidation, because it contains large amounts of antioxidative substances, but is very sensitive to photo-oxidation (oxidation due to light exposure), oxygen exposure, and high storage temperature.

In the presence of sunlight and oxygen, the olive oil's acidity levels increase because of chemical degradation and the oil begins to lose many of its nutritional and health benefits.