Extra Virgin olive oil is an indispensable in-gredient for the highly praised Mediterraneanway of life. However, one should be aware that frozen pizza and lasagne from the super- market don’t have much in common with the healthy, original Mediterranean diet, as they are often produced from cheap ingredi- ents such as white flour with high gluten levels, palm, sunflower or canola oil and ad- ditives such as artificial antioxidants. Today’s Mediterranean cuisine – which can varyconsiderably from region to region – includeshigh-quality protein from freshly caught fish, seafood, legumes such as peas and beans, nuts, red or white meat and eggs; carbohy- drates in the form of wholegrain rice, durum wheat pasta and potatoes; a lot of boiled, braised or roasted vegetables, and typical fruits of the region. In the most original re-gions, the dishes are prepared with abundantolive oil still today. And yes, red wine is fre- quently enjoyed.

If you want to switch to a healthy diet, buy seasonal foods and reduce your sugar intake.Also, use olive oil as your main fat source andavoid chemically processed seed oils. You can use Extra Virgin olive oil not only for pre- paring cold dishes but also for frying (when filtered, Extra Virgin olive oil can be heated up to 220 degrees) and for baking sweet dishes. Simply replace butter and margarine against olive oil. As a general rule: the weight of butter or margarine x 0.8 = the weight of olive oil. Any you should never compromise in the quality of your olive oil, for olive oil can only unfold all its positive effects on the hu- man body if it is of the very best quality. Low quality oils, on the other side, not only cotain little or no beneficial constituents at all, but can even be bad for your health. By consuming good fat or oil and reducing your in- take of heavily processed foods (e.g. sugar) you have already won half the battle for a long life.

By Alexandra Garcia