Extra virgin olive oil or butter?

A crucial choice for heart, vessels, and aging

Fact or myth:

Why most olive oils don’t deserve to be called healthy

Most have heard that olive oil is better than butter.

Most stop there.

But the truth is more uncomfortable: most olive oils on the market do nothing for your health – despite being marketed as "extra virgin."

The difference between butter and olive oil is important.

The difference between regular olive oil and a premium extra virgin olive oil with documented health claims is crucial.

Fat is not neutral – it is biologically active

The fat you use every day affects:

• oxidative stress

• low-grade inflammation

• how quickly blood vessels age

Butter adds flavor and energy. Period.

It contains no polyphenols and lacks protection against the processes that drive atherosclerosis and biological aging.

Extra virgin olive oil can be something completely different

But only if the quality is high enough.

Polyphenols – the line between premium and placebo

It is the polyphenols that determine whether an olive oil has real health benefits.

The EU's food authority (EFSA) allows only one health claim for olive oil, and the requirement is exact:

"The polyphenols in olive oil help protect blood fats from oxidative stress."

To use this claim, at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g of olive oil is required.

This is a clear quality boundary:

• Many oils do not meet this standard

• They are not allowed to use the health claim

• And they do not provide the same biological protection

Why protecting blood fats matters

When LDL cholesterol oxidizes, it becomes inflammatory and more likely to stick to the vessel walls. Oxidized LDL is a central mechanism behind atherosclerosis.

Protecting blood fats from oxidation means influencing an early and crucial process behind deteriorating vascular health – year after year.

This is exactly what the EFSA claim refers to.

Vitamin E – the second layer of protection

Premium extra virgin olive oil also naturally contains vitamin E, with its own EFSA-approved health claim:

"Vitamin E helps protect cells from oxidative stress."

ArcticMed's olive oil contains 25 mg of vitamin E per 100 g:

• over 200% of the daily reference intake

• far above the requirement to use the claim

The result is a dual-action antioxidant protection:

• polyphenols → protect blood fats

• vitamin E → protects the body's cells

This is extremely rare in commercial olive oil.

 

🔥 The myth about frying in olive oil – why it has superior frying properties

Many still believe that olive oil is not suitable for frying.

That is wrong – and based on a misunderstanding.

What determines if a fat can withstand heat?

Not smoke point.

Without:

1. Fatty acid composition

2. Antioxidants

3. Oxidation stability

Here, high-polyphenol olive oil has a clear advantage.

Polyphenols also work in the frying pan

Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants. They protect not only the body – but also the oil itself when heated.

During frying, fat is exposed to oxidative stress.

Butter and refined oils lack protection → break down faster → form unstable and unwanted byproducts.

An extra virgin olive oil with high polyphenol content:

• slows oxidation when heated

• retains stability longer

• provides cleaner flavor and better control

Why butter is often worse for frying

Butter:

• contains water and milk proteins that burn

• lacks polyphenols

• oxidizes quickly

That is why butter easily turns brown and burns.

Olive oil, on the other hand, mainly consists of monounsaturated fatty acids, which are significantly more heat-stable – especially when protected by polyphenols.

Smoke point – a misunderstood argument

High smoke point does not mean high stability.

Many seed oils have a high smoke point but oxidize heavily long before they smoke.

A premium extra virgin olive oil with high polyphenol content is often more stable in practice than both butter and seed oils during normal frying.

Conclusion in the kitchen

For everyday frying – fish, vegetables, eggs, meat – high-polyphenol olive oil is:

• fully functional

• often superior

• and a smarter choice also from a health perspective

 

Why ArcticMed's extra virgin olive oil is different

ArcticMed's olive oil is developed for biological function, not the mass market:

• early harvest

• high-altitude cultivation

• mechanical cold pressing

• laboratory-tested purity, polyphenol, and vitamin E content

• meets the requirements for two EFSA-approved health claims

👉 This is not a standard olive oil

👉 This is an active choice for future health

🔗 https://arcticmed.com/products/extra-virgin-olivolja