Olive Oil - Eveyrone uses it in videos for low cal foods - But it has 120 Cal per TBSP.

J I am using I cant believe its not butter now - 35 cal per TBSP which is better. Im just curious why Olive Oil is so popular?

"I Can't Believe its not butter" is a mix of oil and water. That's why is has less calories. You can accomplish the same by using less oil. In both cases you will need the same amount of fat (oil) to cook the veggies in the same way. Thus you gain nothing by using ICBINB accept for a different taste.

BTW, I use 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil to make my ~320 Calorie popcorn. So good.

_Waffle_ wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

For roasting I just use olive oil spray.

Otherwise, when I use olive oil, it's 1 tsp per serving of food, usually.

JHALLISGETTINGsmall wrote: »

I started dieting making vegetables - sauté in a pan with Olive Oil, Roast in the oven with Olive Oil. All of the videos I watched on Youtube of low cal veggies showed this. I didn't log my Olive oil on my tracker. Then one day I looked at the bottle -120 cal per TBSP. That is ALOT of calories. Spinach goes from 30 cals to 150 cals... Did anyone else ever come to this realization? I am using I cant believe its not butter now - 35 cal per TBSP which is better. Im just curious why Olive Oil is so popular?

A single 1 tablespoon serving contains 2 grams of artery-damaging saturated fat. That’s the about the same as eating two-thirds of a McDonald’s hamburger.

Not that I am encouraging anyone eat the abomination known as margarine, but rather wanting to point out that saturated fat is not the enemy. It is not the cause of artery damage.

http://authoritynutrition.com/top-8-reasons-not-to-fear-saturated-fats/

I am a fan of lard and butter as well as olive oil. I see no need to limit any of them (assuming they are part of a balanced diet).

EVOO made with olives from Spain is the best. I also dip bread into olive oil with black pepper.

JHALLISGETTINGsmall wrote: »

I started dieting making vegetables - sauté in a pan with Olive Oil, Roast in the oven with Olive Oil. All of the videos I watched on Youtube of low cal veggies showed this. I didn't log my Olive oil on my tracker. Then one day I looked at the bottle -120 cal per TBSP. That is ALOT of calories. Spinach goes from 30 cals to 150 cals... Did anyone else ever come to this realization? I am using I cant believe its not butter now - 35 cal per TBSP which is better. Im just curious why Olive Oil is so popular?

From logging I swiftly observed that oil is oil. Olive oil is not lower calorie than peanut oil, etc. You might choose olive oil because of flavor or because you believe there are health benefits. Not a calorie saver though. I would just accept it, use less or do a different cooking method. 1 T is a lot to add to one serving of vegetables... maybe get a cooking spray and use lightly instead.

Yeah. I don't cook with it. If I have room at the end of the night, I prefer to put it on my popcorn. But as a volume eater I cut it out a lot. I do watch my macros though and make sure I'm getting the fat elsewhere.

JaneiR36 wrote: »

I'd say part of the olive oil craze has to do with the idea of eating healthily to lose weight. Meanwhile you're adding tons of calories from healthy food items, not realizing that in some cases the calories add up to an amount that still keeps you at an undesirable weight.

Sure, if you're putting a cup of oil on your food per day. Using it to saute, as a dressing, drizzled on your vegetables isn't going to harm you. I use it daily and haven't become obese because of it.

It's like anything you eat: moderation is key. Heck you can get fat eating vegetables.

JaneiR36 wrote: »

I'd say part of the olive oil craze has to do with the idea of eating healthily to lose weight. Meanwhile you're adding tons of calories from healthy food items, not realizing that in some cases the calories add up to an amount that still keeps you at an undesirable weight.

Haven't most folks cooked in oil for generations?

mean_and_lean wrote: »

gemdiver00 wrote: »

EVOO made with olives from Spain is the best. I also dip bread into olive oil with black pepper.

Actually you need to be careful with olive oil from places like Italy and Spain. They're controlled by a mafia and the "extra virgin olive oil" that you get may, in fact, be mixed with a sub-par oil or have just a little bit of extra virgin in it. Locally produced olive oil from small farms is more than likely the real-deal. If you're buying oil produced in California it has to have a California Olive Oil Certification which ensures it is 100% pure. I had no idea the brand that I was buying wasn't pure. Now I'm going to switch to California.

If you want to see something interesting, read the report sent out by the University of California-Davis Olive Center. To sum up its findings, 73% of all olive oil sold in the US as EVOO was low quality and not extra virgin. This was across the board, both US produced and imported. The problem with "100% pure" is that it doesn't guarantee it is the quality of EVOO. According to the study:

"Our testing indicated that the samples failed extra virgin olive oil standards according to one or more of the following:
(a) oxidation by exposure to elevated temperatures, light, and/or aging;
(b) adulteration with cheaper refined olive oil;
(c) poor quality oil made from damaged and overripe olives, processing flaws, and/or improper oil storage."

All of these, except the ones adulterated, would be considered "pure"

Where I come from, people believe olive oil is almost a medicine (think Mediterranean diet).
I was also shocked when I started using MFP how many calories are in a table spoon.
I will never believe people who claim that olive oil is unhealthy, but I did reduce my dose.
Usually, I will "fry" my vegetables with a bit of water, and if MFP tells me that my meal lacks calories I will allow myself a tea spoon. Anyway I realized that a table spoon for one meal is just not necessary.