Discovering the Best Olive Oil at Tesco: A Guide to High Polyphenol Options
Understanding Olive Oil Quality
When it comes to cooking and dietary choices, olive oil offers many health benefits, particularly due to its rich content of monounsaturated fats and polyphenols. These compounds contribute to various health-promoting effects, including anti-inflammatory properties and improved heart health. However with all the brands on the market it is hard to know how to choose a quality olive oil when at the supermarket.
What to Look for in an Olive Oil
Selecting the best olive oil at Tesco is a hard task, as labels don't give you all the information you need. Top things to look for in a quality olive oil are
1) Extra virgin olive oil. This is the best quality olive oil category.
2) Early harvest. Olives picked at early harvest, while still green, hold the most nutrients.
3) Polyphenol count. Many olive oils in the supermarkets claim to be high polyphenol oils but the bar for this claim is low - just 250mg. Clinical trials used to test the health benefits of olive oil all use extra virgin olive oil with a polyphenol count over 500mg/kg and so for those wanting a healthy olive oil this is the level you should be looking for.
The best quality olive oil available at Tesco
Belazu Early Harvest Olive Oil is the best quality olive oil that can be found at Tesco. However it has not had its polyphenol levels tested. It is therefore likely to be 250 mg/kg or below and while it may have a nice taste it will not deliver the health benefits associated with olive oil. This retails at £9.50 for 500ml.
Our recommendation
For a good quality extra virgin olive oil high in polyphenols and therefore offering the best health benefits you are looking at a price of around £20.00 higher in the UK.
For a great priced healthy extra virgin olive oil we recommend Opus Oliea. This is an awarding winning oil for its great taste. Has a low acidity and a high polyphenol count of 560mg/kg. This is at least 2 times higher than any olive oil found in Tesco. It is also reasonably priced at £16.99 for 500ml.
They also have an organic option which as an even higher polyphenol count of 800mg/kg. This is also very reasonably priced at just £19.99 for 500ml. Both can be purchased online here.
If you are looking to gain the health benefits associated with Olive oil we suggest looking at our range of the best high polyphenol olive oils available in the uk here
