Olive oil is unique in its composition and in its dietary properties: It is a gift from God SWT

Olive oil should not be confused with other cooking oils from canola, sunflower, corn, nut, peanut and palm which are invading the world market. These oils are not natural since they might be processed according to the solvent extraction and refining process. All these oils are processed and they cannot be free of chemical preservatives, as well as other chemical changes such as the trans double bound induced by heating during processing. The marketing propaganda had changed everything about the vegetal oils, and the consumer is now considering that cooking oil is better for his health since it may not contain cholesterol. All these sayings are misleading the consumer, and cholesterol is a strict animal material it could not be found in vegetal materials. Manufacturing propaganda is telling lies about the vegetal cooking oils. The only one natural oil is olive oil and argan oil. Olive oil is obtained by a physical process, olive oil is not extracted with solvent such as hexane, and it might not be refined nor filtered.

When talking about olive oil, one should do not consider it as diet, but as a healing material. All the articles I read, even on Islamic sites, are confusing olive oil with food products. Some Islamic scholars are confusing zayt and duhn which are different in chemical and physical characteristics. Quran is the only one book which stressed the difference between duhn (fat) and zayt (oil). The olive oil for eating should be duhn, that is, it should contain the lipidic fraction and the non lipidic fraction including polyphenols vitamins miscellaneous compounds and solid particles from the olive fruits. Duhn is the liquid obtained by settling the juice obtained from pressing grinded well washed olives. These should be also hand harvested and from non pesticide treated trees. The obtained duhn (crude non filtered olive oil) might be cloudy and light green colored depending on the cultural techniques and also the region. So, Quran is more specific than any book of food science and technology, the olive oil for eating is called duhn in the holly Quran which means it should not be refined nor filtered and it should not be obtained by centrifugation.

The olive oil for lighting might be refined and cleared from solid particles, so the burning may not give too much smoke but light. The more the oil to be burned for radiating is clear the less the smoke is. The holly Quran is the only one book which describes accurately the olive oil for consumption (duhn) and the olive oil (zayt) for radiating or for lighting. The olive oil for lighting was designated in the Holly Quran by the term zayt which means the clear and pure oil. It should be freed from the unsaponifiable part including the colored materials mainly polyphenols and vitamins as wells some other fatty alcohols etc.. Allah subhanah wa Taala used the term zayt in sourat Annour which means light, and he said "Allah is the light of the galactic heavens and the planet earth. The allegory of His light is that of a concave mirror behind a lamp that is placed inside a glass container. The glass container is like a bright, pearl-like star. The fuel thereof is supplied from a blessed olive tree, that is so vast it encompasses both east and west. Its oil is almost self-radiating; needs no fire to ignite it. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whomever He wills. Allah thus cites the parables for the people. Allah is fully aware of all things."

Many attempts to explain this ayat were made by a lot of scholars through out the world in arabic and in many other languages, but none of these explanations was near the right meaning of the ayat. Allah, the Almighty Subhanah wa Taala simulated the god’s light to the light of the olive oil which is the most known attractive oil to people. He subhanah wa Taala made an understandable style to people. So he was talking about nurr (light) not about food, and one should really not confuse the style and the meaning of the ayat which is talking about the way people might be guided.

The food standards had précised the quality criteria for olive oils. These are based on the free oleic acidity which may not exceed 0.1 %  for an extra virgin olive oil, and 3.3% for an ordinary virgin olive oil. These standards do not make sense, since they do not show the difference between olive oil and the other oils. If considered as a food product then these criteria are right, but if considered as a healing material, then these criteria are false. Food standards should mention at least pesticide free, non refined and may also set a minimum for the polyphenol content. All the scientific reports on olive oil are misleading and do not give any precision in the description of what olive oil should be used for.    

The non lipidic fraction in olive oil is the most interesting component. Olive oil  should not be refined nor filtered but just settled, so it might retain non lipidic compounds such as unsaponifiable and coloring materials including polyphenols and other compounds. The criteria defined in food standards for olive oil are false, since they do not include the medicinal compounds which are more ineteresting than the nutritional part. Olive oil should conntain polyphenols, carotens and non lipidic compounds.

The Quran is the only book through all the literature which mention coloring compounds related to olive oil, and defined olive as composed of duhn and coloring materials. He said in Surat al mouminoun (And a tree that springs forth from Mount Sinai, that provide oil, and a colouring (material) for the eaters.). It is the most important sign in the field of food science and the most important way to say that Quran is faith and proof. Now a lot searchers are talking about antioxidants or phytonutrients compounds, but until recently there was no concerning about antioxidants the most important compounds for the body, but Quran had stressed their importance in many verses and in surat annahl (bees) Allah the almighty said (And whatsoever He has created for you on the earth of varying colours. Verily! In this is a sign for people who believe). The coloring material may designate all compounds which change in color with oxidation including flavonoids polyphenols carotenes chlorophylls and antocyans.

Olive oil is the only healthy oil for the body. According to scientists, olive oil can help prevent cancer (even breast cancer), heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, blood clotting (after eating a fatty meal) and help lower high blood pressure. Naturally grown or organically grown, cold pressed, extra-virgin olive oil is the best.

you buy olive oil in the store, you have to be careful because the majority of the olive oil in the store is not pure (they do not contain all the nutritional value that olive oil is supposed to have); trying to find real olive oil is like looking for a needle in a haystack. In order to find real olive oil, it must meet the following specifications: Extra virgin olive oil should have a free oleic acid acidity of no more than 1%. Olive oil is supposed to be cold pressed, unfiltered and look cloudy. Most olive oil that you find in the store is factory-produced olive oil that looks clear. If it is clear, then it has been refined, which further remove the antioxidant compounds which are the most important compounds in the olive oil.

The olive oil should be packaged in dark materials to protect it from the damaging effects of light. Avoid buying oil that is stored in plastic containers because the oil can absorb some of the compounds used in the plastic, such as PVC’s (polyvinyl chlorides) which cause cancer.

When you buy your Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it should be stored in a cool area away from sunlight and heat. You may refrigerate the olive oil, though this will make it more cloudy. The cloudiness will disappear when the oil returns to room temperature.

Naturally grown without pesticides, cold pressed, extra-virgin olive oil is the best. People should be aware about information given by the media about industrial olive oil, it is marketing. The industrial olive oil is usually supplied with other vegetal oils (sunflower, corn, soya etc..) in order to increase the tocopherol content. It is now an old fashion to supply olive oil with other oils. There was a stupid mistake to add other oils to olive oil, some searchers suggested in the 70s years that olive oil does not contain tocopherol and they thought to add it, but they did not know that olive oil contain another antioxidant more active than tocopherol called oleuropein a polyphenol which may release the elenoleic acid the most precious compound in olive oil for preventing coronary and heart diseases as well as cancers and ageing.