Your Cart is Empty
In recent years, the push to move away from seed oils has people divided on what oil to use when cooking. Many oils can be seen as healthy alternatives, but most people agree that olive oil–extra virgin olive oil specifically–comes with a variety of health benefits and reasons to use it.
Olive oil is a type of oil that comes from the olive fruit. The olives are harvested, crushed, and the oil is extracted through a pressing and refining process. Olive oil is typically used in cooking and foods, but some people use olive oil as a medicine. This “home remedy” can be used to help treat heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure (1).
Olive oil, and moreover extra virgin olive oil, comes with an array of health benefits. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats (healthy fats) as well as antioxidants. The benefits of olive oil include:
Typically, acidity and alkalinity are measured in terms of pH level. However, a substance can only have a pH if it is soluble in water, which olive oil is not. Instead, olive oil’s acidity is measured in terms of its percent free acidity (4). Olive oil, like most vegetable oils, is considered a “weak acid.” The acidity of olive oil ranges from 0.8%-2%, and extra virgin olive oil is less than 0.8% free fatty acid.
Because of their low percentage, olive oil is considered a weak acid. However, not all acids act like acids once digested. Olive oil is alkaline yielding, meaning it can actually help raise your body’s pH levels (5).
Most people, especially in the United States, eat diets full of acidic foods and beverages. Grains, meat, fish, sugar, sodas, and most processed foods are all high in acidity, which can be lowering your body’s pH level below its optimal range (6). To balance this out, be sure to consume alkaline-forming foods and beverages to raise your body’s pH. Raising your body’s pH can help your body betterfight diseases.
Additionally, adding more alkaline-forming foods and eating less acid-forming foods has other health effects. Alkaline foods include olive/extra virgin olive oil, leafy greens, apples, nuts, and tofu. By replacing processed foods with alkaline foods, many people have reported weight loss and higher energy.
Some people can easily switch out acidic foods for alkaline foods to increase alkalinity in their diet. For others, however, eating less meat, fish, or grains is not a sacrifice worth making. In this case, drinking alkaline water is a simple way to raise your body’s pH levels without any extreme diet changes.
Alkaline water is water that is “alkalized” to add healthy minerals to the water. These minerals, including sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium, are electrolytes that increase the water’s pH. Drinking alkaline water comes with a variety of health benefits, including reducing heartburn and acid reflux, aiding digestion, and balancing the body’s pH levels. To add alkaline water to your diet, consider investing in an alkalizing water filter. For best results, find an independently-lab tested filter that will filter out harmful contaminants while also boosting your water’s pH. Seychelle’s water filters effectively remove chemical, inorganic, and radiological contaminants, all while adding healthy minerals to your water.
Olive oil, while not measurable on the pH scale, is considered a weak acid that is alkaline-forming. Consuming olive oil on its own or in cooking can help reduce the risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and works as an anti-inflammatory. Olive oil, particularly extra virgin olive oil, can help balance your body’s pH levels to keep your body functioning optimally.
What is the pH of olive oil?
Olive oil is not soluble in water, so it does not have a pH. That being said, olive oil is considered a weak acid.
Is olive oil acidic to the stomach?
No. Olive oil is alkaline-forming, so it has alkaline qualities in the stomach. Olive oil can help raise the body’s pH levels.
Is extra virgin olive oil inflammatory?
Extra virgin olive oil, along with regular olive oil, is an anti-inflammatory.
References Cited
