What Is The Difference Between Medical-Grade Olive Oil And Regular Olive Oil?
Why you should be buying medical grade extra virgin olive oil if you want to gain the health benefits associated with olive oil.
What Is The Difference Between Medical-Grade Olive Oil And Regular Olive Oil?
Medical-grade olive oil has a very different polyphenol content, purpose, and processing standard than your average olive oil and is crafted with the intent of delivering functional health benefits — not just flavour. They are also batch is tested to provide certification of their nutrients.
Medical Vs. Regular Olive Oil — Key Differences
Polyphenol Content: Medical-grade oils contain ≥250 mg/kg polyphenols (some exceed 1000+ mg/kg); regular EVOO often has less than 150 mg/kg. However most clinical trials use oils with a polyphenol count above 500mg/kg. This is why at Early Harvest we only list oils over 600g/kg to guarantee the health benefits customers are looking for as an oil will degrade over time and with storage. You can check out our latest oil selection here
Purpose: Medical oils are formulated for anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and therapeutic effects — not culinary use alone.
Testing: Every batch is third-party lab tested for polyphenol concentration and oxidative stability.
Harvest & Extraction: Medical-grade oil is produced from early-harvest olives and cold-pressed under strict temperature control to preserve actives.
Bioactivity: These oils are used in functional nutrition protocols, often under professional guidance.
What Research Tells Us
High-polyphenol olive oil shows measurable benefits in lowering inflammation, improving cardiovascular markers, and supporting cognitive function.
Standard EVOO varies widely in phenolic content and may lose potency during storage or heat exposure.
Therapeutic-grade olive oils are often used in clinical studies on hypertension, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s prevention.
More than just culinary, medical-grade olive oil is now recognised as a legitimate part of food-as-medicine approaches, especially in Mediterranean and functional nutrition protocols.
Summary: From Kitchen Olive Oil To Functional Medicine
Regular olive oil supports creating tasty meals, but medical-grade olive oil takes is about health. With significantly higher concentrations of healing compounds, medical oils offer a true functional food approach to inflammation, brain health, and chronic disease prevention.