Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by f6v 1953 days ago
Is it fine if I use olive oil? Italians seem to have exceptional health.
6 comments

Yeah, extra virgin olive oil is one of the good ones and there's a sizeable research literature which backs that up. You can consume it liberally. Make sure you buy it in a dark glass container (since it's UV sensitive) and it should leave an itchy feeling in your throat after you swallow a teaspoon. Olive oil fraud is rather common and this is a method to detect that. There's some sites which analyse EVOO and rank them based on the above factors, I just pick the best brands from that list.

Common advice is to avoid seed oils - the cheap stuff used in restaurants such as canola oil. We didn't evolve with this stuff, it contributes to inflammation and is generally not good for you, but is used because it's cheap and not illegal yet.

> Common advice is to avoid seed oils - the cheap stuff used in restaurants such as canola oil.

I'd say common advice is to avoid cheap (refined) oils rather than seed oils. Point in case linseed oil is arguably even healthier than olive oil. Sunflower oil (cold pressed) is a great source of Vitamin E (in moderation because of omega 6:3 ratio). Cold pressed rapeseed oil (canola) is great, too. So is pumpkin seed oil ...

The problem with olive oil is that because of its' popularity it is often adulterated (with seed-oils, often at source). So do your research before you buy.
Yes, as long as you're not heating it until it smokes.
It doesn’t seem like Italian cooking has much high temperature pan frying.
No. Olive oil is great, but don't put it in your deep fryer. I like to use ghee, personally.
NO. Different oils are meant to be cooked at different temperatures. Find the right one for your use case.
had to upvote

I agree, except I state it differently.

Chefs are supposed to cook at different temperatures when using different oils.

The real problem with olive oil for frying is the cost of the oil compared to lesser products.

There are also natural compounds in the virgin olive oil that can be destroyed by heat so it is considered beneficial to consume it without previous heating in things like salads or bread dipping to gain any benefits from components which are not in other oils.