George Mateljan has written 5 books on healthy eating, including The World's HealthiestFoods.
While preparing for a Chicago Cooking Show, the author shares with the producer, "You never want to let olive oil get hotter than 200-250 degrees," he warned as he poured it into a pan for our taped cooking segment.
When you first put room temperature olive oil into a pan, it's green and vibrant- filled with vitamins and anti-oxidants. But as the temperature rises, all those nutrients are literally burned out of the oil, along with the color, and toxic fumes start to rise from the pan.
"People are inhaling this smoke every day when they think it's being healthy, but in reality, the smoke from heated olive oil is full of toxins," George tells me.
So what's a home chef to do??!!
"Use an oil that can take the heat," he explains.
"Like canola oil?" I ask.
"Use safflower oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil. You can find all of those in the supermarkets today," he suggests.
George spent 10 years doing research before launching his World's Healthiest Foods book, so I trust he knows what he's talking about.
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So does this mean no more olive oil? Not a chance. Research says that by ingesting more olives,
"I drizzle olive oil on just about everything," says George. "After I've cooked my meal, I put it on fish, vegetables, whatever you make- it's like adding a handful of nutrients and vitamins to every dish."
