Does Cooking With Extra Virgin Olive Oil Make It Less Healthy?

A recent study reviewed a lot of the research on the phenolic compounds in olive oil, and how they are affected by cooking.

Phenolic compounds are contained within high quality olive oils, and are responsible for numerous health benefits.

"From a human physiological standpoint, phenolic compounds are vital in defense responses, such as anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-proliferative activities." - Source

So, the question is, are these phenolic compounds affected during cooking?

The short answer is maybe, the recent study review points out that the evidence so far is mainly contradictory.

It concludes that frying with extra virgin olive oils may improve the nutrition content of the food due to the presence of phenolic compounds in the oil. This is backed up by a similar study that looks at different heating temperatures similar to home cooking. They found that olive oils had a reasonably high enough smoke point for the conditions involved in home cooking. Also interestingly stating that a significant amount of total phenols remained after heating at 121 degrees for 10 and 20 minutes.

But it is too early to say, and not enough studies done as to how bioavailable this is to humans after undergoing such a violent cooking method.

So the key takeaway is cooking with EVOO is likely to be better than alternatives, and probably still does confer a health benefit by raising the phenolic content of the food you're eating. But, try to use cooking methods that are gentler in terms of temperature and duration as this can protect some of the healthy but less stable components.

Using raw extra virgin olive oil where you can is always best to ensure you gain the maximum benefit from the phenolic content of the oil. But if you are going to fry, don't be afraid of reaching for the extra virgin olive oil, especially if it's a high quality one.