Olive Oil

Oil

Olive oil is made from the fruit of the olive tree and is rich in monounsaturated fat. Virgin oils are extracted by physical methods, while other edible grades include refined oil. It adds fat, flavor, and texture to prepared foods.

Also known as

Olive Oil · Virgin Olive Oil · Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Why PRūF tracks it

Ordinary dietary use has not shown established human toxicity, but high-fat mouse experiments raise unresolved metabolic and tumor-progression questions, while repeated heating and refining contaminants require attention to processing and exposure.

Read the research

Olive oil covers several edible grades. Extra virgin and virgin oils are obtained by physical methods, while ordinary olive oil can blend refined and virgin oil; olive-pomace oil is a separate category. Refining and cultivar affect minor compounds, so benefits studied with extra virgin oil cannot automatically be assigned to every grade. Large Mediterranean-diet trials reduced cardiovascular events, but changed whole eating patterns and did not isolate olive oil.

Cohort studies associate replacing butter with olive oil with lower mortality, without proving causation. A small crossover trial found no overall LDL difference between higher and lower extra virgin oil intake within a plant-based diet. In 2025, EFSA found insufficient evidence for a separate claim that olive phenolics lower LDL cholesterol or systolic blood pressure. New mouse studies report fat-cell, glucose-control, and implanted-tumor metastasis signals under high-fat conditions; they do not establish those outcomes in people eating ordinary amounts.

A small eight-week trial in healthy women found no blood-pressure difference from sunflower oil and mixed other markers; an LDL rise within the olive group does not establish comparative harm. Repeated heating depletes phenolics, and refined grades require contaminant controls.

Research reviewed on September 5, 2026 · 12 sources