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One of the main dilemmas that, for years, has tormented not only industry experts but also everyday consumers is always the same: is butter or extra virgin olive oil better in cooking?
It’s true, butter makes the recipe tastier and it gives an unparalleled consistency… so why, in the end, is it always recommended to prefer the use of olive oil instead of butter? What are the actual differences between these two basic ingredients of cuisines around the world?
We begin the analysis by considering and comparing the beneficial properties of both; considering the nutritional value, extra virgin olive oil and butter are different not only in terms of the quantity of fats contained, but also in terms of their quality.
In fact, extra virgin olive oil is made up of 99.9% lipids (i.e. fats), while butter, thanks to the small amount of water it contains, reduces this percentage to 84%;
It must be said, however, that if we consider a 100g portion of product, olive oil provides only 26.5 grams of unsaturated fatty acids (including 21 grams of oleic acid) compared to the 49 grams of saturated fatty acids contained in butter. And therefore, if we combine the latter with 250 milligrams of cholesterol, compared to the 0 grams of extra virgin olive oil (because it is only present in foods of animal origin) we come to the conclusion that, even if with a lower quantity, most of the fats in extra virgin olive oil are unsaturated, beneficial for the body, while in its rival, we find mainly saturated fats.
The differences just listed are enough to highlight how beneficial the use of extra virgin olive oil in cooking and in the daily diet is for our body, but we want to give you more.
EVO oil is in fact rich in Vitamin E, an antioxidant, easily digestible and, thanks to the stimulation of bile secretion and that of various digestive enzymes, it helps and improves the digestibility of the total meal.
Furthermore, years and years of research and studies on the beneficial properties of olive oil have ascertained that the prolonged and daily use of extra virgin olive oil provides much more than simply what is listed: it helps bone growth, the maturation of the central nervous system, provides the energy needed to face everyday life starting from newborns to the elderly and, given its richness in monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid, prevents disorders affecting the cardiovascular system.
And in the kitchen?
There is always a lot of talk about the famous “smoke point” of olive oil, but what is not known is that in butter this smoke point is much lower, that is, it becomes very unstable at temperatures around 130 °C – this process forms acrolein, a carcinogenic compound for the body and this is the main reason why butter is not particularly suitable for cooking at high temperatures or for frying.
Oils rich in oleic acid, and therefore first and foremost extra virgin olive oil, are more resistant to high temperatures and, therefore, are more stable when used in the kitchen; therefore developing a lower quantity of compounds harmful to human health and it is for this reason that it would be better to cook/fry with EVO oil.
For all lovers of sweet cuisine, dough and bread making, you will be happy to know that, contrary to many thoughts, pastry making was born with olive oils. Olive oil in desserts together with honey, milk and dried fruit gives softness, friability and greater digestibility.
But then… is it better to eliminate butter from our daily diet?
Absolutely not. The strategy we recommend implementing is balance, as in any diet destined to be successful, keeping in mind that butter is already present in foods that are probably consumed habitually such as packaged foods or snacks and it is also for this reason that it is recommended to integrate more extra virgin olive oil into the diet.
