Is he being judgmental?   Or does olive oil have to be 'virgin' as well as 'pure' and clean living to be good for his health?

I don't want him to have clogged arteries; but I do like to save money.

I don't know if virgin olive oil is better for cholesterol or not.  The non-virgin stuff is likely processed though.

I think the plant-sterol containing margarines are better than olive oil for reducing cholesterol levels.  They aren't recommended for everyone though.

Hate to say it, but.... there is a difference between pure and virgin and extra virgin when it comes to olive oil. Extra Virgin and Virgin is extracted directly from grinding the olives and cold pressed. There are no chemicals, no refining. Pure is a blend of virgin and/or extra virgin with olive oil that has been refined. It may not even be cold pressed. A clue is that if the virgin/extra virgin was good quality, you would not blend it. So, it is either a blend because it is lower quality or it and keep costs down and profits up. Just because it gelled or got cloudy in the fridge is not a statement on its quality. All olive oil will do that in the fridge.That is why it should not be stored there because it will become cloudy and can even solidify and crystallize. It doesn't harm the oil, though and only  affects the texture and consistency. It is perfectly safe stored at room temperature for a year or two.

This is from the Mayo Clinic (not meaning mayo as in mayonaise LOL!)

4. Olive oil

Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol but leave your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched.

Try using about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil a day in place of other fats in your diet to get its heart-healthy benefits. To add olive oil to your diet, you can saute vegetables in it, add it to a marinade or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. You can also use olive oil as a substitute for butter when basting meat or as a dip for bread. Olive oil is high in calories, so don't eat more than the recommended amount.

The cholesterol-lowering effects of olive oil are even greater if you choose extra-virgin olive oil, meaning the oil is less processed and contains more heart-healthy antioxidants. But keep in mind that "light" olive oils are usually more processed than extra-virgin or virgin olive oils and are lighter in color, not fat or calories.

So probably the 'pure' is not the best re cholesterol - but not the worst either ... ie as compared to other oils/margarines.   

When I discussed 'oils' with a nutritionist she indicated that canola oil was ok and cheaper.

Carolla, is that compared to just margines with trans-fats, or margarines in general?  Do you know much about the plant-sterol enriched ones?

For most stuff it doesn't taste as good though :)

I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

"Pure" means it doesn't have other oils added to it. Pure olive oil is a great (healthy, cheap and effective) skin moisturiser, The skin absorbs it well and it even smells nice. It's fine for uses like pan-frying stronger flavoured foods, like red meat. 

You can get first pressing "extra virgin" Italian olive oil in cans at a reasonablre cost. You should store it in the dark, NEVER in the refrigerator. Canola oil is for deep frying chips, but it is NOT a palatable, food enhancing oil.

We rarely use butter or margarine. Or any oil but olive oil.

Good olive oil is for bread duppong and salads where its flavour is uncompromised, and the finest oilive oils are ver expensive because they are unique (like fine wines). It should be a clear, fresh, green colour.

As a markting ploy, supermarkets carry various "flavored" olive oils at inflated prices: don't be tempted. They are a ripoff and simply help distributors get rid of inferior oil.

A good, palatable oilive oil is not overly expensive and replaces butter (but DON'T add jame and gunk), marg and all other cooking oils. 

If you want to destroy the flavour of good, home baked plain bread with jam and other flavours, DON"T add grease to the mix… let the bread and jam flavours mingle… if that's not enough, you're missing the point.

Olive oil is simple, pure and delcious. Good bread — its perfect accompaniment — is best made with unbleached flour, water, yeast and (optionally) a dash of salt: nuts and exotic grains in bread are like adding CocaCola to malt whisky, or ketchup to anything otherwise edible… North Americans tend to mask and overwhelm "true" flavours to the hazard of their health as well to the annihilation of their capacity to appreciate variety, freshness and flavour in their diet. Fast food and "family restaurants" indoctrinate this ignorance and sacrifice of pure pleasures.

Food is about flavour, slowness, simplicity, subtlety, sociability, sharing, fun… and it should be relaxing: cooking should be relaxing because it should be caring and creative, a fascination… then food is also healthy: freshness, flavour and variety are all you really need to know about healthy eating and enjoyable food preparation.

Simplicity is the key. At the moment, we're enjoying pasta: rigatoni or fettucine cooked al dente.

I chunk-cut sunripe tomatos from the garden with a handful of fresh basil (torn and de-stemmed) from the garden. To this I add a turn ot two of black pepper, a light scattering of crushed chillies and half a cip of extra virgin Italian oliva oil. I let the tomato-basil mix stand for an hour or two tosmooth the flavours

I drain the pasta into a bowl, add and lightly mix the (uncooked) tomato-basil mix (the haet of the pasta is all that's needed),. I set the table, put the pasta bowl on the centre, put some finely grates parmaggiano — Parmesan cheese — in a small bowl with a spoon, pour lartge glasses of fresh pure water from our excellent well and serve. We invite friends whenever they can come.

It's fast, easy, delicious… cheap… an easy entree is beans fresh from the garden, lightly boiled, served with a light drizzle of oilive oil and a dusting of Parmesan. A great dessertis fresh fruit. Afterwards: coffee.

Life gets so much harder come winter!!!

No chemgal - I'm certainly no expert in this area!  It was my conclusion based on reading a bit & replying to the original question. 

MMMM .... I'll be right over Mike!  Menu sounds wonderful!

Sounds yummy, MikeP. Might have a little quibble on the bread - I do love me the tang of sourdough and the complexity of a multi-grain rye bread.

Also, I love fats. Used in moderation, they give food complex mouth feels and some lovely flavours; maybe because I've had to cook for people who tended towards thin-ness most of my life, I've never had to be frightened of them, as some seem to be. I like a little bit of butter on a sandwich, and use it in baking. If I was an American, I wouldn't use their grocery-store butter (unless from Bgh-free dairy) but here I do for cost sake. I would love to have access to butter made from organic raw milk, but I think that's a distant dream. I'm very fond of ghee.I love avocado oil and coconut oil and olive oils of various sorts, toasted sesame oil. I use grapeseed when I need a flavourless oil, and peanut for frying, which I do, occasionally, in moderation, things like falafel and vadas (fermented lentil balls). I avoid canola, soy, corn and 'vegetable' oils because they are largely GMO-tainted.

One of my favourite simple dishes is an armful of young greens from the garden - swiss chard, some new inner leaves of the kale, beet greens, maybe some baby nettle shoots, all sauteed with fresh garlic in a blend of oils, some salt, a  big pinch of roughly ground roast cumin and pepper.

Bette - I'm intrigued by your comment "... a big pinch of roughly ground roast cumin ..."  I've never seen cumin other than totally powdered & in a bag.  Do you purchase it differently somehow?  Now I'm curious ... google session coming up!

I buy whole cumin seeds, available in the grocery store, usually next to the Indian-type spices. Roast them in a dry cast iron frying pan, about 2 tbsp at a time. Dump them in a mortar and pestle I keep on the counter for that purpose. Sorta grind them up. Much more flavour, although I use the powdered stuff in a pinch.

Wow, some really great recipes.  Thanks for your replies. 

Thanks Bette - I may just have to try that!

What did you end up doing Seeler?

We`ve compromised.  We bought a big bottle of extra virgin olive oil to use most of the time, but for some cooking I will continue to use the bottle of pure olive oil that I bought - at least until it`s gone.

Sounds like a good solution.  I've heard of chefs who do something similar - the expensive stuff for when the taste of the oil is important (ie. it isn't heated) and cheaper stuff for cooking.

In much of my reading these days on digestion issues and the digestive tract, I've learned that:

1.  organic expeller ad cold-pressed, unrefined oils are best (but not always easy to find in small local grocery stores, and also more expensive).

2.  olive oil is good for medium temperature cooking, and best used in salad dressings or as a condiment.

3.  helps with constipation

4.  is an anti-fungal

5.  helps support the immune system