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Do You Know Nutrition: Choose the right type of olive oil

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  • Originally published March 15, 2010 at midnight, updated March 16, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.

By Phylis CanionQ: Can you please explain the difference between pure, cold pressed, extra virgin and virgin olive oil. Also, is there a particular reason why olive oil is always in a glass container?

A: Pure olive oil indicates that there is only one variety of oil, not a blend, and can be heated safely.

Cold-pressed is a process in which non-preheated oil seeds are pressed only once, with no additional heat and at the lowest temperature possible, never exceeding 50 degrees, to extract the oil. This type of pressing preserves the nutritional properties of the oil.

Extra virgin applies to olive oil only. It means that it is the best quality olive oil with the lowest oleic acidity which is less the .08 percent. Extra virgin olive oil is not designed to be heated.

Virgin olive oil is the equivalent of first cold-pressed and can be used for all varieties of oil. Virgin also refers to second quality and the oleic acidity of virgin olive oil is 1.5 percent.

Because of the high quality of olive oil, the optimum storage containers are ceramic jars, glass bottles (dark bottles are even better) and tin cans, since air and light are enemies of olive oil.

Q: Are products that are wheat-free also gluten free? Also, are there flours that are wheat free and gluten free?

A: For your first question, not necessarily. Gluten-free products are safe for someone with celiac disease, but gluten free does not always mean wheat free, unless the label specifically states the product is wheat free.

Wheat free means there are no wheat flour ingredients in a food and are helpful to those who have wheat allergies. Gluten is a component of many grains including wheat, barley and rye, so the term gluten-free food is a much more restrictive food in that it does not contain any of these derivatives. While wheat is one of the most common food allergens, gluten is toxic to the small intestine and damages it, preventing nutrients from being absorbed into the body.

And for your second question, the following are wheat and gluten-free flours; amaranth flour, soy flour, arrowroot flour, brown/white rice flour, buckwheat flour, chickpea flour, maize flour, millet flour, quinoa (keen-wa) flour, sorghum flour and teff flour.

Phylis B. Canion is a doctor of naturopathic medicine and is a certified nutritional consultant, e-mail her at doc.phyl@yahoo.com. This column is for nutritional information only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or cure.


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Comments

  • bruffo bruffo Report a ViolationReport a Violation Permalink

    It is true that wheat-free is not necessarily gluten-free (products may contain barley, rye or oats) but gluten-free is always wheat-free. The definition of gluten-free is "no wheat, rye, barley, oats, tritacle or any parts thereof".

    Bev R.
    Hamilton ON

    March 16, 2010 at 11:44 a.m.