Grapeseed Oil vs. Olive Oil: Which One is Best?

Cooking with olive oil and grapeseed oil can provide you with a ton of health benefits, but which one is the very best for you? Read this blog to find out!

Oil is one of the most common cooking ingredients in people’s kitchens. Oil adds healthy fat to meals and helps various dishes come together before, during, and after the cooking process. Alongside neutral oils, like canola or vegetable oil, people frequently use more flavorful oils like olive oil and grapeseed oil. Both of these oils have endless utility and are frequently used interchangeably. But, in this grapeseed oil vs. olive oil power struggle, which one comes out on top?

In this guide, we will explore this question and more. Continue reading to learn more about both olive oil and grapeseed oil!

What Is Grapeseed Oil?

Grapeseed oil is oil made from grape seeds after they have exited the wine-making process. Grape seeds can alter the taste of wine – and can even introduce harmful chemicals into the wine – so winemakers have traditionally discarded grape seeds. But, over the last few years, oil makers have been taking this byproduct and, using modern techniques and technology, extracting oil from them.

How Grape Seed Oil Is Extracted?

To extract the oil from grape seed, there are three general options that artisans can choose from:

Crushing and heating the seeds to extract the oil
Introducing chemical solvents to separate the oil from the water-containing parts of the seed
Cold pressing the seeds through an expeller

Cold-pressed grapeseed oil is very expensive, but easily the best quality. The easiest way to extract grapeseed oil is to use solvents, but it’s also the most controversial. This method uses chemicals to extract oils, so it doesn’t take much energy or extra force to perform it. But, while most of the solvent is removed, the trace amounts that are left contain hexane. Hexane is a known carcinogen or a substance that has been proven to promote cancer within the body.

What is Olive Oil?

Olive oil is one of the most widely used oils in both household and commercial cooking to make marinades, salad dressings, and more. It’s produced from the entire olive and presents a lot of health benefits to people who use it regularly for cooking, beauty, and self-care purposes.

How is Olive Oil Extracted?

Turning olives into olive oil is simple once the olives are harvested and ready to go. First, the harvested olives, pit and all, are crushed and mashed and put through a high-speed centrifuge to separate the liquids from the solids. The liquid is then spun one more time to separate the oils from the water. The oil that remains is extra virgin olive oil, the least processed version of this fat variety you can buy. Extra virgin olive oil can be bottled as is or further refined or processed.

Similar to the European wine industry, olive oil is graded based on certain criteria of quality and purity. The grades range from “extra virgin”, which is the highest on the scale, and scales down to distinctions such as “light” and “refined” or “pure olive oil”.

Grapeseed Oil vs Olive Oil: Nutrition

Both grapeseed oil and olive oil are very nutritious and present a lot of health benefits. For example, grapeseed oil is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. It also contains a variety of disease-fighting compounds and antioxidants, including tocopherol, linolenic acid, quercetin, and resveratrol.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is a good source of monounsaturated fats, which have also been shown to increase heart health. Olive oil is also rich in antioxidants and has been shown to reduce inflammation, which may help protect against chronic disease. It may also help to prevent neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia.

When comparing grapeseed oil vs. olive oil in terms of their nutritional value, they present the same micro-nutritional composition:

• Water 0.00
• Energy 120
• Protein 0.00
• Total lipid (fat) 13.60
• Carbohydrate 0.00
• Fiber, total dietary 0.0
• Sugars, total 0.00

But, they do differ when it comes to how much fat they contain. Grapeseed is made up of 10% saturated fat, 16% monounsaturated fat, and a whopping 70% polyunsaturated fat. Alternatively, olive oil contains 10-20% saturated fat, 55-83% monounsaturated fats, and 3.5-21% polyunsaturated fat. Additionally, when compared with olive oil, grapeseed oil contains a high level of omega-6 fatty acids.

When using oils that are high in omega-6 fatty acids, remember to pair them with foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids to reduce the risk of developing chronically high levels of inflammation. Sustaining inflammation can lead to other chronic conditions including cancer, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Avoid this by eating foods such as salmon, chia seeds, and brussels sprouts.

Lastly, both olive oil and grapeseed oil are high in calories, so try not to consume them in large quantities without making other changes to your diet and exercise routine.

Grapeseed Oil vs. Olive Oil: The Bottom Line

Grapeseed oil and olive oil are two healthy cooking oils linked to a long list of health and wellness benefits. Using these oils will make your food delicious and nutritious if used correctly. To get sustainably sourced, organic olive oil, look no further than Public Goods! Our products are designed to make your lifestyle healthier without breaking the bank. Browse our market today!