Welcome to our Dishing Up Nutrition's midweek segment called Ask a Nutritionist.

I'm Monica Haas. I'm a registered and licensed dietitian.

On today's show, brought to you by nutritional weight and wellness,

we will be talking all about oils. This question was asked by one of our Dishing Up Nutrition

listeners. Which oils are good to use, and which should I avoid? I've heard that olive oil

will become rancid at high heat, but for years I've

been using it to roast my veggies because I thought it was the healthy choice. Please help me

understand which oils I should use and for which purposes. So let's dive into everything

you need to know about oils, both from a culinary perspective

and a nutritional standpoint. And since this listener was specifically asking about olive oil,

let's start there. I bet if you're listening, you have been at the grocery store with

olive oil on your list, only to get to the correct aisle and find there are so many

shelves of different choices. We've got virgin, extra virgin, cold pressed, organic, pure, light,

and the list goes on. There are so many olive oils to choose from, so how do you know which one to choose?

When looking for olive oil, and really, this goes for other types of oils as well, we're looking

for the words extra virgin or cold pressed. According to the American olive oil producers

association, olive oil producers association,

olive oil that's labeled just plain olive oil means it is likely a lesser quality olive oil.

It's probably been refined through degumming, neutralization, bleaching, and or deodorization processes. Then it's blended with about

5 to 15% extra virgin or virgin olive oil. So you're probably not getting that olive oil that

you think you're getting. Also, according to the American olive oil producers

association, pure and or light olive oil are marketing terms used for olive oil that has been

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