Reflexology For The Spirit

spirituality of one's health

Oil. Oil. And More Oil!

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The next time you need to purchase olive oil, read the labels on the bottles, jars, and cans.  Don’t just grab the container that’s on sale or the one on the end cap or the one  with the prettiest label.

I recently did a study on olive oils.  I wanted this information for myself and to share with my client partners and you, my readers.  Boy, did my eyes get opened WIDE!

Most olive oils on grocery store shelves are imported.  The names on the labels evoke history, romance, travel to exotic places.  Stand in front of the olive oil display for a couple of minutes and your brain may even wander to  skin,  water and  summer moons:

Bertolli

Pompeiian

San Leandro

Filippo Berio

Taste Inspirations

Nature’s Place

DeCecco

Buonaturae

Spectrum

Olivari

Botticelli

l could go on and on.  The least inspiring labels were Rachel Ray, Spectrum, and Hannaford’s.

When you finish reading those labels, you’re going to probably be thinking more about travel than anything else.  Imported olive oils are mostly  a blend of oils from many different countries:

Argentina

Australia

Chile

Egypt

Greece

Italy

Morocco

Spain

Tunisia

Turkey

Uruguay

U.S.

The average label listed 5 countries for the oil of origin.  When an olive oil company blends so many oils from so many places, I feel that things  get confusing.  How can there be controls, health guidelines on a product coming from countries all over the world?  And, truth be known, there are no controls  on imported olive oil.  The blend may not even be olive oil.

Oliveri oil comes from Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Pompeiian oil claims to have oil in its bottles from Italy, Greece, Spain, Argentina, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Chile, U.S., and Egypt.

The only olive oil I buy and trust is organic American Extra Virgin Olive Oil.   Olive oil is a food which can be therapeutic.  If I’m eating something partially because of its therapeutic qualities, I want to know that I’m getting what I pay for.  And, let’s face it, olive oil is not cheap.   I want it to be organic and I want it to be EVOO and I want it to be what the label says it is.

When I read the labels, I discovered that most of the companies with these romantic sounding names claimed to use oils from most every country.  There were some exceptions:

Pompeiian produces several different olive oils.  One is American and 1 is Portuguese.

Carapelli, DeCecco, and Buonaturae sell pure Italian olive oils.

Taste of Inspirations has an oil from Italy and an oil from Greece.

San Leandro’s oil comes from Spain.

As far as my research leads me, the only Sicilian olive oil comes from Trader Joe’s.

The principal oil used in my kitchen is organic  American Extra Virgin Olive Oil because medical experts believe that it is a good food to help prevent several diseases which I’m not interested in dealing with:

cancer

heart disease

high blood pressure

osteoporosis

rheumatoid arthritis.

There’s a method to this.  In order for your EVOO to be therapeutic, you need to use an EVOO regularly enough to consume about 2 large spoonfuls daily.  This means you’re going to cut out some less desirable oils.  An easy way to do this is to substitute olive oil for margarine,  butter, peanut oil.

Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat – a healthy dietary fat.

You may not even know it but your EVOO is a heavyweight in your kitchen.  It’s important on your reflexology table too.  When your client partner voices dietary health concerns, this is your opportunity to share the health benefit information.  One of the easiest ways to begin to eat healthy is to rely on American organic extra virgin olive oil.

ENJOY!

Bertolli Olive Oil

Pompeian Olive Oil

Olivari Olive Oil

Carapelli Olive Oil

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Thurman Greco