What's the difrence between virgin olive oil and coconut oil?

jgnatca

@esjones12 you've been scammed yourself.

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/oliveoil.asp

Olive oil is perfectly fine.

lemurcat12

mskessler89 wrote: »

Wait I'm very confused. I thought EVOO's smoke point was 325 F and coconut oil's was 350 F. That's not a big difference. Light olive oil (not EVOO) is more like 465 F, and canola and sesame oil are around 400 F... So why are people cooking high-temp things with coconut oil?

Right -- in fact EVOO varies from 325 to 375, so I never get why coconut oil is supposed to be preferable on that basis. I choose between the two based on the taste I want. (I used to think it was bad if you might exceed the smoke point of EVOO, but research convinced me that Need2 is right on this point.)

Here's a table of the smoke points:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/cooking-fats-101-whats-a-smoke-point-and-why-does-it-matter.html

Edit: oh, should have read to the end of the thread. I see this was covered.

esjones12

jgnatca wrote: »

@esjones12 you've been scammed yourself.

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/oliveoil.asp

Olive oil is perfectly fine.

The article you shared even states that the findings proved that most olive oils labeled so, don't meet the regulations for "extra virgin olive oil".....

Personally I'm going to follow tips from Ben Greenfield, a nutrition expert who constantly interviews other nutrition and fitness experts at the top of their field. Feel free to continue consuming olive oil that isn't labeled correctly.

Need2Exerc1se

esjones12 wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

@esjones12 you've been scammed yourself.

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/oliveoil.asp

Olive oil is perfectly fine.

The article you shared even states that the findings proved that most olive oils labeled so, don't meet the regulations for "extra virgin olive oil".....

Personally I'm going to follow tips from Ben Greenfield, a nutrition expert who constantly interviews other nutrition and fitness experts at the top of their field. Feel free to continue consuming olive oil that isn't labeled correctly.

It's pretty easy to tell extra virgin olive oil. It looks and tastes different. But the non-virgin stuff isn't unhealthy.

VeryKatie

You should look at a break down of the types of fats in different oils. A random source I found just now (it has some references to USDA):

http://chartsbin.com/view/1961

Extra light olive oil has far less percent of saturated fat and more monosaturated than coconut. If you eat a western style diet, coconut oil could be one of the poorer choices (because it is one of the higher saturated fat type oils - more than margarine, lard, palm oil, etc), while olive would have less. This assumes you need more monosaturated fat based on an otherwise high animal protein diet. If that doesn't fit your diet, then that rule of thumb may not apply.

But as with anything, if it's in moderation, it's probably not a big deal breaker.

For myself... I use canola for cooking with (I simply find it sticks less) and virgin olive oil for eating straight (dressings and such). I have a fun flavoured oil that I use at home for potatoes (don't even know what kind of oil it is! haha). I can't go through enough oil on my own to justify having more kinds in my house. If you like the taste of coconut oil, that is also a consideration.

And to be clear - just because I said in that context it might be a poorer choice, that doesn't mean it isn't still a reasonable choice. Fat is still a macronutrient we all need after all.

jgnatca

esjones12 wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

@esjones12 you've been scammed yourself.

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/oliveoil.asp

Olive oil is perfectly fine.

The article you shared even states that the findings proved that most olive oils labeled so, don't meet the regulations for "extra virgin olive oil".....

Personally I'm going to follow tips from Ben Greenfield, a nutrition expert who constantly interviews other nutrition and fitness experts at the top of their field. Feel free to continue consuming olive oil that isn't labeled correctly.

Skim reader, eh?

shadowfax_c11

One is made from olives and one is made from coconuts.

JoshuaMcAllister

shadowfax_c11 wrote: »

One is made from olives and one is made from coconuts.

Dang, you beat me too it.