Pleasure, Power, and the Long Journey of High Polyphenol Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Olive oil has never been just an ingredient.
For thousands of years, it has been medicine, ritual, currency, fuel, fragrance, food and status. Today, we ask a simpler question that carries an ancient echo:
Do we use olive oil because it tastes good—or because it makes us feel better?
The answer, as it turns out, has always been both.
The Early Days: Why Olive Oil Became Essential
The olive tree was first cultivated over 6,000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean. In places like Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, olive oil was life itself.
Athletes rubbed it into their skin before competition. Healers prescribed it for wounds and digestion. It lit homes and temples. It anointed kings.
But crucially, early olive oil was always fresh, green and potent — what we would now recognise as high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil. There was no refining, no deodorising, no shelf-life engineering. Oil was pressed locally, used quickly, and valued for its strength and bitterness as much as its flavour.
Bitterness wasn’t a flaw.
It was a signal.
Who Mastered Extra Virgin Olive Oil — and Why
The mastery came not from technology, but from restraint.
Ancient producers learned that:
- Early harvest olives produced oil that lasted longer
- Cold pressing preserved aroma and vitality
- Oil made quickly after harvest had more “life” in it
They didn’t know the word polyphenols — but they knew which oils healed, sustained and protected.
What we now measure scientifically as high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil was once understood instinctively.
Taste vs Function: A False Divide
Modern consumers often fall into two camps.
There are those who love olive oil for its texture, aroma and ability to elevate food — the grassiness, the green bitterness, the peppery finish.
And there are those who seek olive oil for what it does — reducing inflammation, protecting cells, supporting long-term health. They look for lab results and polyphenol counts.
Historically, these were never separate.
The oils that tasted bold, bitter and peppery were the same oils that worked hardest in the body. The sensory markers of great olive oil — pungency, bitterness and that unmistakable throat catch — are the outward expression of high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil.
If it makes you cough slightly, that’s function speaking.
When Olive Oil Lost Its Way
In the twentieth century, olive oil became industrial.
Refining made oils cheaper, smoother and more shelf-stable. But neutrality came at a cost. Polyphenols were stripped away. Oils became cooking fats rather than living foods. Bitterness was stripped out. Strength was replaced by softness.
Extra virgin olive oil survived, but high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil became rare, regional and often misunderstood.
Until now.
The Return of High Polyphenol Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Science has caught up with tradition.
We now understand that high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil is rich in antioxidants, supports cardiovascular health, reduces oxidative stress and inflammation, and protects the body at a cellular level.
This understanding has sparked a quiet renaissance. Knowledgable growers are harvesting earlier, pressing faster, bottling darker and proudly declaring polyphenol counts.
For some, it’s about wellness.
For others, performance.
For many, it’s simply about returning olive oil to what it was always meant to be.
Why People Love It Today
People come to olive oil for different reasons, but they stay for the same one: it makes them feel better.
They may arrive for the texture on warm bread, the peppery lift on vegetables, or the ritual of a daily shot.
They stay because high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil works.
It energises.
It protects.
It nourishes deeply.
Why I Choose High Polyphenol Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For me, olive oil isn’t decorative. It’s functional.
I want the highest-functioning oil possible, which means my priority is always high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil — oil that is early-harvested, alive, robust and unapologetically bold.
The bitterness tells me it’s doing its job.
The burn tells me it’s active.
The flavour tells me it’s honest.
This is olive oil as it was intended.
Full Circle
From ancient groves to modern laboratories, from clay amphorae to dark glass bottles, olive oil has come full circle.
What has changed is not the oil — but our understanding.
The oils prized for strength, vitality and flavour were always high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil.
And once you experience it — not just on your palate, but in your body — you understand why people have loved it for thousands of years.