Is It Safe to Cook with Olive Oil?

Kelsey Kinney tells us that "it’s okay to cook with olive oil. It has some unique qualities that make it stable under cooking conditions, and provided you're buying high quality olive oil to begin with, you can sauté to your heart's content”

Olive Oil is a monounsaturated fat, which is the main reason for believing that it is not as healthy as saturated fats when it comes to cooking.  However, Kinney points out that olive oil contains polyphenols and tocopherols which protect the oil from oxidation.  This works in combination with the monounsaturated properties to keep olive oil stable at high temperatures for a very long time (much longer than your average cooking time).

She mentions one study that found that only after frying olive oil for 24 – 27 hours did it become harmful, whereas vegetable oil could only reach 15 hours.  In another study, EVOO was heated to 176C (350F) for 36 hours and the oil still kept most of its nutritional value.

Kinney concludes that “being able to heat olive oil opens up cooking options, especially for those who are sensitive to the effects of saturated fat on their cholesterol levels”

 Sourced from : chriskresser.com