Pear and Gorgonzola Flatbread

Extra virgin olive oil’s health benefits are substantially dependent on its polyphenol content — specifically the compounds oleocanthal, oleuropein, and hydroxytyrosol that are responsible for its anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular-protective effects. Research has found that the polyphenol content of olive oil decreases by approximately forty percent in the first year after pressing and continues to decline thereafter, meaning that fresh, high-polyphenol extra virgin olive oil provides substantially greater health benefits than aged or degraded oil of equivalent volume. The PREDIMED study — the landmark clinical trial demonstrating the cardiovascular benefits of the Mediterranean diet — used high-polyphenol extra virgin olive oil as the primary fat, and the specific health benefits observed in the study may not be replicable with the aged, low-polyphenol olive oil that constitutes most of the commercial supply.