Realfoodology - 54: All You Need to Know About Olive Oil with Pasolivo

Episode Date: September 1, 2021

I speak with Marisa Bloch of Pasolivo Olive Oil all about what makes olive oil the healthiest fat, what to look for when picking out olive oil, how to find the highest quality, the Italian mafia and what a lot of olive oils are cut with and so much more! You can get 10% off their first order of Pasolivo Olive oil by using the code REALFOODOLOGY at checkouthttps://www.pasolivo.com/@pasolivo

On today's episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. Everybody always assumes that just because a bottle says it's extra virgin, that it's an extra virgin olive oil. But there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to that. The grocery stores and the FDA don't heavily regulate what is being put out there. And so as consumers, you have to be really careful because you may be paying for something thinking that you're getting an extra virgin olive oil and getting all those health benefits when you're really not. Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of the Real

Foodology podcast. I am Courtney Swan, your host. I'm so happy that you're here. If you're enjoying this podcast, would you please rate and review it for me? It helps me so much and I just really appreciate the support. Today's episode is all about olive oil. We dive into what makes it the healthiest fat, what to look for in an olive oil when you are buying it, what's happening in Italy with the Italian mafia and kind of all over Europe in the cutting of different oils. So you definitely want to tune in and make sure that you know how to find the highest quality, best olive oil. We dive a little bit into fats in general and why they are so important and so healthy for us. The low fat movement was one of the worst things to ever happen to humanity, seriously. Because what we did when we

took fat out of our diet was then we replaced it with sugar because fat is what creates that mouth feel and it gives foods really, really good taste. And without that taste, we needed to add in something to make it palatable, to make it good, like taste good. And so we replaced it with sugar. And as we now know, sugar is actually what wreaks havoc on our cardiovascular system. And it leads to a whole slew of issues. Whereas fat, if we're eating the right kinds of fats, it actually is one of the most important components to our diet. It protects our brain health. And it's also really good for satiety, meaning in between meals, you're going to be less hungry

because when you're satisfied from a meal, then you're full for a lot longer. And then you're not going to be reaching for snacks in between those meals. So some perfect examples of really good, healthy fats outside of olive oil, of course, are avocados, coconut oil, coconuts, nuts and seeds. So your organic nut butters, avocado oil is really great. Fatty fish like salmon. So things like that you're going to want to incorporate into your everyday life, your everyday diet. I actually I eat organic grass fed butter every single day. I would argue that olive oil and butter are two of the healthiest foods that we can possibly consume. And I am backed by a lot of science and research on that. So this is not just an opinion. There's actually

some science that backs it up. So if you are listening and you have actively been cutting fat out of your diet, I would highly urge you to reconsider that because like I said, fat is one of the healthiest things that we can consume. On today's episode, I speak with Marissa Block of Pasolivo Olive Oil, which is a olive oil company out of California. And she really helps me break down exactly how you can find the highest quality and what to look for in an olive oil. Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals?

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Yes. So my name is Marissa Block-Gaitan. I am a level two olive oil sommelier and general manager of Pasolivo Olive Oil in California. So I have worked for the company for almost nine years now, and I just love being a part of the whole process here from the farming to the actual processing of the olives to getting to create the wonderful blends that go home with all of our customers. That's awesome. Yeah, I actually have a couple of your olive oils sitting in front of me right now. Cause I know we're going to do a taste testing in a bit, which I'm very excited about. Um, so before we do that, I want to dive into everything about olive oil. So can we talk

a little bit about why we hear this often, but I want people to really have an understanding of why olive oil is considered to be one of the healthiest fats. Exactly. So olive oil is one of the most naturally processed foods. So it is literally olives getting pressed into its juice. And olive oil, if it is a true extra virgin olive oil, there are definitely certain requirements during the processing that you have to go through to get certified as an extra virgin olive oil, but that has the most health benefits for you. So it is heart healthy. It can lower your bad cholesterol. It's great for your blood pressure. I mean, it goes on and on. And even beyond all of those internal benefits, it's great for your skin, your hair. So, I mean, it's really a superfood. Yeah, it is. And it's also thanks to the monounsaturated fats that makes up the majority of the profile of the olive oil. And I know, too, it has anti-inflammatory properties, which is also a great thing about olive oil.

I consider olive oil to be truly like a superfood. You know, like you want to have a little bit of it in your diet every single day. Definitely. I recommend usually two to four tablespoons at least in your daily appetite. I love that. Okay, so what are some common misconceptions that people have when it comes to olive oil? So everybody always assumes that just because a bottle says it's extra virgin, that it's an extra virgin olive oil. But there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to that.

The grocery stores and the FDA don't heavily regulate what is being put out there. And so as consumers, you have to be really careful because you may be paying for something thinking that you're getting an extra virgin olive oil and getting all those health benefits when you're really not. So it's really important to know that you're buying it from a trusted source so that you are getting all those health benefits that you're looking for. Yeah. So you bring up a really interesting point that many people may not be aware of. So I remember, I think it was a couple of years ago now, 60 Minutes did a little segment on this about the Italian mafia and they call it agro mafia

there apparently. And what they're doing is they are actually cutting olive oil with cheap oils like canola and sunflower, and then sending it to the. and packaging it as if it's 100 percent olive oil. Exactly. And yeah, it's extremely scary. You don't know exactly what's in there. You don't know when the oil was produced because most of these bottles just have a bottling date, which actually tells you nothing because you do want to consume olive oil usually within about two years of that harvest date to get that peak freshness and all of those benefits. So yeah, mislabeling, cutting the olive oils, it's really actually really sad for the consumer. Yeah. And also, you know, it's obviously misleading, but it can be really dangerous too

for some people. Cause I was actually reading about this earlier. Um, I think this doesn't happen as often, but sometimes they can cut it with like nut oils. And if someone has a nut allergy and they think they're buying 100% olive oil that could actually harm someone. Um, not to mention the fact that we know that canola oil and sunflower oil are highly inflammatory on the body. And the whole reason we're buying olive oil is because we want the anti-inflammatory properties of it. So it really negates the whole reason for buying olive oil. Exactly. So it's really something that I've been trying along with my team to really try and raise awareness

along with a bunch of the olive oil councils in the area, just really trying to educate people on the olive oil fraud and what you should be looking for. Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, so how can someone know that they are getting a good olive oil? Like how do they know it's 100% olive oil and trust that it's a good source? Yeah, so I always recommend whenever possible, you know, just like shopping at your farmer's market, go directly to the source. So if you can buy from a local grower, that's always the best option in my opinion. If you are shopping at the grocery store, some key things that you want to look for on the bottle, as I mentioned, are a harvest date or a best buy date, not a

bottling date. Also, a lot of the times it'll list the countries that it's from. And one of the red flags is if you're seeing it's a blend of oils from Spain, Italy, Greece. So that means that this oil has been traveling around and is eventually getting bottled together. So that's another huge red flag. And then just the taste of it. So consumers typically think that olive oil should taste really mild and bland. But if you're actually getting a real extra virgin, you should taste that olive flavor. You should get that pungency in the back of your throat, which is those polyphenols that have those anti-inflammatory properties. So you really

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So color gets a little bit confusing. It's actually not an indicator of quality. The cloudier the olive oil is, the less filtered it is, which means the more sediment it has, which increases the health benefit but shortens the shelf life. But you could have a span of a nice light yellow color up to a really green. That depends on when the olives are picked because all olives start green and turn dark. So the darker the olive, the more yellow the color is going to be. Or if you pick it greener, then you get kind of that nuclear green color in your olive

oil, which is delicious as well. Okay, so that makes sense. So what is the difference? Because I know I see different labels for olive oil. What's the difference between refined virgin and extra virgin? And what would be the best one to buy? Yes, so extra virgin is your highest quality olive oil. It's going to have the most health benefits for you. In order to be certified as

an extra virgin, you can't add any heat or chemicals in your process and you can only run the olives through the mill one time. The second you run them through again or add heat or chemicals to extract more oil, you're automatically lowering your quality to either virgin or even taking it a step further and refining that oil. So it's taking out those health benefits that you're looking for in an extra virgin olive oil because it's becoming overly processed. Okay. Yeah. And, you know, I talk about this all the time on the podcast, the less processed, the better when it comes to our food in general, because, you know, it's the less that it's, um, tainted, you know, it's less that it's messed with. Exactly. And people always think

like, Oh, I don't know. I don't know if I want to cook with a high quality extra virgin olive oil, but it actually has a really high smoke point if it's a high quality extra virgin. And the way I look at it is anything I'm putting in my body, why wouldn't I want, I would want to use the highest quality on my food and in my cooking. Yeah, same. And actually you just brought up a great point. It's something I was going to ask you next. Um, this is a conversations being had a lot in the nutrition world, especially more recently, as a lot of people are saying only use olive oil in cold dishes because it has a lower smoke point. And for those listening that don't know what a smoke point is, it means that,

so every single oil has a specific smoke point and it means that past a certain point of being heated up, it actually turns carcinogenic. And depending on the oil, they have different smoke points. Notoriously, avocado oil has been used a lot for heated dishes because it has like a 500 smoke point. That being said, though, I was reading about this recently with olive oil that actually it has a higher smoke point than what we were initially told. Yeah, so we get our oils lab tested as part of the process to be certified as an extra virgin. And our oils actually have a smoke point of about 420 degrees. So you can do most of your cooking with these oils. That's awesome. Yeah. And I was reading that usually

when you're like sauteing, so you're doing like eggs or whatever over the stove, it doesn't usually go over 375. So you're totally safe to use olive oil. Exactly. Oh, awesome. That's exciting because I've been avoiding olive oil and heated food for the last couple of years. I've been using avocado oil just because I thought that it was turning carcinogenic when I was heating it, but it turns out now I can do my eggs and olive oil, which is so good by by the way. Oh, yes, I agree. Especially, I know, I think you have the basil with you. Basil, olive oil, and eggs is fantastic. But I, yeah, I love cooking with all of the olive oils. They're also great for salad dressings, too. I know you mentioned some of the colder dishes as well, but I do all of my vinaigrettes, olive oil, balsamic, maybe a little bit of honey.

Yeah. Ooh. And with eggs, like we said earlier. So we covered one eggs for sure. Whether I'm scrambling or even frying an egg. I also love to saute all of my vegetables. I use it on my meat too, because olive oil is actually a natural tenderizer. So it's great for steaks and really helps to marinate it, tenderize it and give it a, you know, a lot of

that flavor. And then something that I think people don't always think about is baking with olive oil. So it's a great substitute for other vegetable oils, or you can do a conversion from butter, which makes it healthier for you. And it actually keeps your baked goods lasting longer because of the moisture in the olive oil. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. I mean, I love olive oil cake, but I'd never heard that component of it, like keeping it from going bad quicker. That's awesome. Yeah. I'm going to start using olive oil and more like baked goods and stuff. After I realized that it didn't have, it has a higher smoke point, I'm going to be using it more and heated stuff. I think I just, you know, I was concerned reading

about that smoke point. Definitely. And that's why you have to make sure you're getting a high quality olive oil because those smoke points will vary. But if you are buying high quality, then you're safe 375 up to 420. Amazing. Okay. Well, and olive oil tastes so good. And, you know, I mean, we talk about this all the time on the podcast too. We have been conditioned in the U.S. to be so scared of fats. And what we realized is fat is one of the most important components of our diet.

We need it every single day. We need it for cognitive function. And like you said earlier, skin, and it helps with our hair and just overall satiety, which means that you stay fuller for longer. And I found the more that I incorporated good, healthy fats like olive oil and fatty fish like salmon and avocados and coconut and all that. It really, I've seen a huge difference in my own health. I completely agree. We have a lot of people that are concerned about the calorie intake,

but it's those good healthy fats that your body really needs. And actually, I think improves your overall health. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and it's so funny with the calorie talk. I mean, I don't talk a lot about calories because I don't believe that it should be a main focus. But interestingly enough, people that eat more fat tend to eat on the lower side of calories in general, because like I said, when you have a meal with a good amount of healthy fat, you are fuller for longer. So then that meal is going to

last you longer and you're not going to be so inclined to snack in between meals. Um, and you end up eating less over time, which is really interesting. Oh yeah, I completely agree. Yeah, I love it. Um, and then another interesting about fat, too, is when you pair it with a carbohydrate like a bread or rice or something like that, it actually helps to slow down the absorption of sugar to the bloodstream. So it helps with your insulin and again, like keeps you from crashing later. And so then you're not like feeling like you need to snack all day in between meals. So it's really I love fats. Yes, there was a lot of studies done on oil pulling. feeling like you need to snack all day in between meals. So it's really, I love fats. Yes. There was a lot of studies done on oil pulling. I'd say about a year or two ago where people were, you know, taking shots of olive oil in the morning to really jumpstart their system.

So a lot of people stand by that too, just getting your day started with at least a tablespoon or two of olive oil. I love that. Do people actually do olive pulling with olive oil? They do because of all of the health benefits that it offers along with doing the whole oil pulling process, but then they're also getting their daily dose of extra virgin olive oil. Oh, that's so interesting. I've only heard people use coconut oil. And so for people listening that are unaware of oil pulling, it's a process that you do that it's supposed to protect your gums and your teeth. And essentially you put like a, I don't know the exact amount, maybe like a teaspoon or something of oil in your mouth and you swish it around for a couple minutes and it's supposed to really improve your teeth health. Um, and I've always heard people using coconut oil, but I've never

used olive oil. I'm going to have to try that too. Yes. I love it. I'm like, what are some other things that we can use olive oil in? So, um, obviously with cooking and oil pulling, what are some other things that you use olive oil for? So it's great on your hair. If you have any, you know, dead ends or anything, you can literally, I know they make a lot of olive oil, but bath and beauty products. We have some of those as well. But even if you were just to take a regular bottle of extra virgin olive oil and just rub some into your hair. It's really moisturizing for that. It's excellent for your skin. So I know Sophia Loren always used olive oil on her skin and she's looking pretty great. So wonderful for your skin. And then also recently we've had a lot of people give olive oil to their dogs

because it's really good for their coats as well. Oh, interesting. Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe I'll put a little like teaspoon in my dog's food bowl later. Exactly. Yeah. It makes their coat really nice and shiny. It gets rid of a lot of that dandruff that they may have. Oh, so cute. Yeah. And I know my dog would love it too. Walk me through a little bit of the process of, um, I read something about you guys claim to have this, like, is it a farm to table kind of process with your olive oil extraction or? Yes. So, uh, here on property, we have over 7,000 trees and 11 different types of olives that we grow. So we're fortunate to be able to do everything here on site. So we get fortunate to be able to do everything here on

site. So we get to really control the quality from start to finish. So we grow the olives, we handpick them at harvest. We do not use any machinery on our trees, causes less bruising to the fruit that way. So we get to harvest our olives, bring them directly down to our mill and get to process the olives within two to directly down to our mill and get to process the olives within two to four hours of coming off of the tree. So that's really important because the longer you keep olives from getting processed, they will start to ferment. And that's when you'll start to have some defects that start to form.

So you actually have to process olives within 24 hours of coming off of the tree, whether you're pressing them into oil or curing them before they will start to ferment. So we're fortunate, like I said, to get to do everything here on site. So we don't have to, you know, truck our olives anywhere at all. And then once they go through the milling process, we then store them in stainless steel vats where we temperature control. And we do something a little bit unique where we don't take, you know, all of our Tuscan olives and that's our Tuscan blend for the year. We do it very much like wineries do where we harvest each variety separately and then we taste them all and come up with our blends for the year. So that way we can really control the flavor profile we're looking for.

There's also certain olives that naturally produce higher polyphenol counts. So if we want to do, you know, kind of an extra superfood olive oil, we can do that by blending certain varieties together. Oh, interesting. You brought up another good point that I wanted to touch on, storing it in stainless steel vats. So can we talk a little bit about the importance of how olive oil is stored? Not only how you guys store it, but also where the consumer stores it at home and what kind of glass it should be in and all that.

Yes. So olive oil, the three main factors are light, heat, and oxygen. Those are the three things that will turn your olive oil. So you'll notice that the bottles you have are completely black. So we don't even do dark glass. We take it a step further and completely black out the bottle because even the darker glass can let light in, especially if you're in, you know, grocery store settings under those phosphorescent lights. That is something to be aware of. Also, cool dark place. So you want to keep it in your pantry, in a cupboard. I don't suggest keeping it right next to the stove unless you're just cooking with it right then and there. I do recommend putting it back away and obviously not by a window or anything like that. Yeah. And I

would even say to make sure the cupboard isn't over your stove because when the heat rises, it's also going to affect it. Exactly. It's so interesting. I remember my mom has always been on top of this stuff. It's so cool. And I remember in college, my mom came to visit me one time and she was like, Oh my God, get your olive oil out of this cabinet. It's like, it's probably rancid now. We got to get you a new one. Cause it was in a cabinet right above my stove. Yeah. It's, it's something that people don't think about, you know, they're, it's like, Oh, it's a cooking oil. I can keep it right here, but it does really change the composition and gets rid of those

health benefits and will cause it to go rancid. Yeah. It's so interesting. Is that the same for other oils too? Like let's say my avocado oil or something like that. Is it all the same? No. So yeah, extra virgin olive oil is definitely more sensitive than a lot of other oils on the market. But with that, the health benefits are really great with extra virgin olive oil. Yeah. And we want to maintain all those polyphenols and antioxidants and everything, vitamin E, vitamin K, so that we can get the maximum benefits of that olive oil. Exactly. Cool. So is there anything else that kind of makes your olive oil stand out compared to other grocery store olive oils that we haven't covered? So aside from just our whole process, as I mentioned, being able to just control the quality from start to finish, we also do flavored olive oils. So which kind of sets us apart. We have some

really fun, interesting flavors. I know you have the lemon and the basil. So we do a lot of co-milling, which is where you take, for example, the basil. We put 500 pounds of fresh California sweet basil in with each ton of olives at harvest. So that way the flavor infuses into the oil, but there's actually no fresh herbs in the oil because when you're doing it in bulk, you run the risk of botulism and all of that. So you have to be very careful when you're flavoring your oils, but we do all natural flavorings. So unfortunately, the moment that you add a flavor to an olive oil, you can't call it extra virgin. However, ours do go through the same process. So they have the extra virgin base, but once you add a flavor, it's technically no longer an extra virgin olive oil.

Oh, interesting. Okay. But it still has that extra virgin olive oil base. So we'll take it. Exactly. Still really healthy for you. And it makes, it makes great additions to your cooking. If you want to add lemon or basil to anything, you're getting those health benefits, but also that wonderful flavor too. Yeah. I'm really excited to use this basil olive oil with like a pesto pasta. I feel like just a little drizzle on top of that would be amazing. Oh yeah, definitely that or on a caprese salad. Yeah. Yum. All right. Well, this has been so amazing. Is there anything that we haven't covered yet that you wanted to talk about? I think we've covered pretty much everything. I mean, olive oil is, I mean, I could

talk about olive oil all day long, but, um, but yeah, it's just really all of the health benefits and making sure that you're buying a true extra virgin olive oil. Yeah. Yeah. That's really important. I hope, um, if anything, people leave knowing that they need to look for a high quality and it should be extra virgin. Definitely. I ask everyone this question on the podcast and I'm curious to know what yours are. So what are your personal health non-negotiables? And that can be anything from taking care of your mental health, like meditating, um, you get you get a workout in every day, whatever it is, no matter how busy you are, these are things that you prioritize for you

and your health and you always make sure you do them. For me, it's really focused on my cooking. I love food, but I am really focused on what I'm putting into my body. So I really like to eat as healthy as possible. I know, of course, everybody cheats sometimes, but for me, it's really about quality ingredients. So whatever I'm making, even if it is that dessert, it's quality ingredients that I'm using. I love that. I have a similar philosophy as well. So I agree. I love that. Well, for everyone listening, where can they find you? So they can find us on Instagram or Facebook at Pasolivo or at Pasolivo.com. Awesome. Thank you so much. This has been so informative and great. Thank you. I really enjoyed it. Pasolivo has been so kind to share a code with my audience.

You're going to save 10% off at checkout when you use code real foodology. So make sure you go to pasolivo.com that's P A S O L I V O.com. And you're going to save 10% when you use code real foodology. Please note that this code is only for two weeks after the episode launch date. After that, it is going to expire. after the episode launch date after that it is going to expire so make sure that you use it soon thanks for listening to today's episode of the real foodology podcast if you liked this episode please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know this is a resident media production produced by drake peterson and edited by chris mccone the theme song is called heaven by the amazing singer Georgie, spelled with a J.

Love you guys so much. See you next week. So what if he doesn't like me? At least I know I am for him My time won't be wasted anymore You are standing twice above me I'm always feeding I'm just being I'm just being I'm just being I'm just being