What is the Mediterranean diet?
Extra virgin olive oil is an essential part of the Mediterranean diet. Italy, Spain and Portugal are all part of the Mediterranean Region and benefit from beautiful environments that produce vegetables, fruits and nuts, which are integral ingredients to the Mediterranean diet.
The Mediterranean diet is made up of a variety of nutrients: fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Extra virgin olive oil plays a key role in healthy fats and as we are what we eat, cooking with extra virgin olive oil is a part of healthy eating.
Monounsaturated fat (oleic acid), olive oil, is the most important fat. There are saturated fats like butter and polyunsaturated fats like seeds but these don’t have anywhere near the same nutritional value when compared to extra virgin olive oil.