47 Uses for Olive Oil Outside of the Kitchen

Olive Oil is very useful to have stored up. Not only can you cook with it, there are many things outside of the kitchen that you can use olive oil for. Here, I will discuss 75 of them. But let us begin with some background information on olives and Olive Oil.

What is Olive Oil

Olive Oil is a fat that comes from pressing whole olives. The Olive is in the fruit family. The Olive Tree originated in the Mediterranean basin.

History of Olive Oil

From archeology digs it was found that the first olive oil presses date back to 6000 BC. Olive oil has been an important trade item throughout history. The Spartins used olive oil to put on their bodies and then scraped off for the games in Greece. At this same time women used olive oil in their cosmetics.

Production & Consumption

As of 2013 Spain was the largest producer of olive oil with 39% of the total world production.
Olive oil is produced in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Australia, Turkey, Tunisia, Greece, Morocco, Syria and Algeria. In the United States olive oil is produced in California, Texas and Arizona.

The country with the most consumption per capita is Greece which consumes over 24 liters per person per year.

Names for Olive Oil

Different names on the Olive Oil labels indicate the amount and type of processing the olive goes through, it also describes the quality of the olive oil.

Extra virgin Olive Oil is the highest grade. The word virgin refers to the process that no heat or chemicals were used to extract the oil. Virgin Olive Oil contains the highest levels of polyphenols an antioxidant and the most healthy oil.

Olive Oil is a combination of refined and virgin oils.

Cold Pressed or Cold Extraction means that the oil was heated but not over 80F during processing so that it contains more of the nutrients of the fruit. The higher the heat the less nutrients the oil contains.