Find High-Quality Olive Oil, with Brandi Muilenburg

Foreign. Hello, and welcome to the five Journeys Feel Freaking Amazing podcast. I'm Wendy Trubo. Your host Ed isn't with us today. He's in a meditation retreat. So it's just me making mischief. I have Brandi Meilenberg with us today. She is a pleasure to be around. She is a registered respiratory therapist, a certified integrative nutritional health coach, a functional nutrition doctoral candidate. More about that later. Author, podcast host, speaker, and entrepreneur. She's also the founder of Functionally Autoimmune, and she's been gracious enough to have me on her podcast twice. And she helps women from around the world heal their guts and improve their autoimmunity. And we're going to talk about olive oil today, which is kind of random, but when I was on Brandy's podcast, she mentioned that she's into olive oil, and I happened to say that I wanted to talk about that, so we're having her on. Brandi, welcome.

Hi, Wendy. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm so excited to be here. Want to talk about olive oil? Because, as you mentioned, I love it, but also, you're one of my favorite people to be around, too. So this is great.

This is great. Okay, Brainy, how'd you get into, like, we're going to talk about olive oil. How do you know it's rancid? What. What elements should it have? How often you should eat it? But how'd you get into this? Like, it's very random. So how'd you get into it?

It's very random. I mean, if you think about the broad spectrum of everything that I've done and everything that I do, nutrition is a huge part of my life, and olive oil is a hu that. So if you think in that spectrum, it sort of makes sense, but it is very random. And the story of how I. So the story of how I started my business, Cesar Olio de Oliva, which is my Italian olive oil business, is that I actually was on my treadmill at home. So it's one of those, like, fancy, ifit treadmills where you can, like, hike anywhere in the world. And I was hiking through Italy, and I was, like, hiking through these gorgeous, like, olive groves, and I was like, man, these are so pretty. And I love olive oil so much. And I'm thinking about all the amazing health benefits, and I'm like, why don't I start my own olive oil business? Like, what am I doing? And so it literally skyrocketed from there. I reached out literally cold, called Italy, which people Think is hilarious, but found all of these different family farms, reached out to them, talked to them, found 2 century old family farms that were just amazing people who were willing to take a chance on a crazy American woman who called them out of the blue. And I've partnered with them. And so it really just kind of snowballed from there. But I'm a huge advocate for olive oil. I think it's one of the most ancient superfoods there is out there and it does so many amazing things. And so it really was just kind of one of those like.

So I think we need to, to do the most important thing first, which is why is olive oil good for you? Like why, why am I having this conversation?

Right.

Can you tell people like, why are we having this conversation? Why is it important? Because otherwise they may be like, oh, olive oil, whatever. But no, this is really important.

Yeah, yeah. Olive oil is amazing for so, so many different reasons. And I mean it can be used for so many different things. And if you think about the way back in time when olive oil was first like found and used, it's been used for medicinal purposes, for skin care, for so many different things for so many centuries. And so there's a reason for that. People back then realized that there was something very special about olive oil. And what we still know about it today is that it's packed full of vitamin E, polyphenols, antioxidants, all of these amazing, like I like to call it food because it has all these amazing compounds in it that really are anti inflammatory. They do so many fantastic things for gut health, for immunity. And so it really is one of those things that's so easy to add to your diet, so easy to add to every day and to get those amazing benefits in along the way. And so it really was just kind of one of those things that's like, it's an easy choice. If you're like, what can I add to my diet to get a really big bang for my buck? I'm always like, olive oil, that's the thing. Not just because, you know, I love it and have a business, but it legitimately is just this amazing nutritional power packed thing that can do so many fantastic things for you. And the Omega 3s in there alone can do so many fantastic things for your health. And I've seen people, you know, you mentioned that I work with people with autoimmune conditions. I've seen so many people who have really high blood pressure, really bad cholesterol, you know, all of these symptoms, gut health, Issues, all of these things. And when we really start incorporating omega 3s, especially things like avocado, olive oil, stuff like that, it's amazing how some of those symptoms really start to go away. They really start to feel better. They have less pain, they have less inflammation. And it really is just kind of one of those things that you can watch and be like, wow, this stuff really is amazing.

Okay, so when you say use olive oil and add it to your eating plan, are you talking like a teaspoon a day, a tablespoon a day? Is it three times? Like, how much and how often?

Yeah, you know, I think it's. It's something that's very personal, like, what works best for you? Because I probably use olive oil more than the. The norm. I cook with it. Everything that I cook, I cook in olive oil. Every. You know, all of my homemade salad dressings, marinades, things like that. Olive oil is the base for them, and so I use it. It's kind of the base in a lot of my cooking. And so do you put heat?

Do you put it on heat? I'm sorry to interrupt you, Brittany, but are you putting olive oil on heat? Because we. I was always taught it denatures at heat and only use it. Like I said, use it for salads, but don't cook with it.

Yeah, and that's such a fantastic point. And I think that's where a lot of people get confused, especially here in the United States, because we don't understand olive oil in the way that European countries and other places do. So when you have really high quality, good fresh olive oil, extra virgin especially, you can actually cook it at very high temperatures. It doesn't degrade, it doesn't oxidize. Like, it actually stays very stable and very. It maintains its nutrition and is very delicious. What happens for us here in the States, though, unfortunately, is a lot of the olive oils that we're buying on the grocery store shelves are not. Not necessarily high quality, a lot of them, because there's not a lot of regulation around olive oil in this country. So a lot of them, unfortunately, have actually been spliced with things like canola oil, other seed oils, and things like that. So even though the label says olive oil, a lot of times they're actually mixed with lesser grade inflammatory oils. And so those definitely can't go on high heat because they're not fresh and stable. The other thing that happens is when we go to a grocery store and we pick up an olive oil, we don't know how long it's Been sitting there. And the important thing to note is you want to try and get the most currencies in olive oil possible because that's where it's at peak freshness. That's when all the nutrients are there, that's when it's super stable. And so about a 24 month period from the date that it was harvested is about the time frame that you want to stay within. And so it's really difficult, difficult to go to a grocery store, pick up a bottle of olive oil and know how old it is. The other thing that's important to note when we're talking about being able to use it with heat is you don't ever want to buy olive oil that's in a plastic container because oxygen and light is actually the enemy of olive oil. So you want it to be in a cool, dark place. So what plastic and clear containers do is it allows light in, which degrades it, which then makes it become not stable, so it will burn when you're cooking at high heat. And also that plastic actually allows air circulation to get through. And so that again degrades it and, and makes it burn. So that's a great way to know if you have a high quality olive oil is if you heat it up to a higher temperature. If your oil starts to like burn and smoke a lot, it's not high quality because you should be able to. I fry with mine, I bake with it. I do everything that you possibly could do with any oil with my olive oil. And it never burns, it never goes rancid, never makes that like smoky, gross smell and flavor because I always keep just current season, high quality, extra virgin olive oil. And that makes such a huge difference. So that's really why everyone's been taught you can't use it at high temperatures because what you're grabbing off the shelves really can't be used because it's not fresh and it's not stable and it's not pure.

You know, I think we started when I was on your podcast, we were talking about, you mentioned something about olive oil. And I said, I can't stand olive oil. It always tastes rancid to me, always. And so I stopped buying it, I stopped eating it, I stopped cooking with it. I don't even use it. Like, I can't stand it because of the way it felt. And it's so interesting because I think I mentioned to you we had met some other people who were doing what you're doing, and they gave us some of their olive oil. And I Was like, it doesn't smell and it tastes neutral. And I'm not sure that I've ever had organic cold pressed, extra Virginia, not rancid, not messed, not diluted olive oil before. I was like, I don't think I've ever had this. So we, we got some because. So how can people know if it's rancid? What would like, I know I'm super sensitive, but how can other people know?

Yeah. Honestly, the best thing to do always, always read the labels. So if you're going to purchase your olive oil from a grocery store, always read the label before you bring it home. Because the one thing that's really sad is you bring something home, you open it and you're like, oh, this is trash. Because now you've spent money on something you don't want to eat. So always read the lab label. There's not a lot of regulation around it, so they're very tricky in their marketing. So it may say extra virgin on it and it actually not be extra virgin olive oil. So you have to really read the fine print and pay attention. As long as there's 1% olive oil in there, they can call it olive oil. Literally. No. Yes.

No. Okay, so how do you know then that your olive oil is only olive oil?

Yeah, so you have to read the labels. You have to look for the source of origin. So if there's more than one source of origin on the back. So let's say it says product of Italy on the front, but then you turn it over and in the small print it says like Spain, Italy. Like there's different places that oil has been spliced together with a bunch of different low grade regional oils to make a lesser product to sell on the shelves here. And the reason for that is, does.

This happen in Europe too? Like in Europe, do they do that or is it in Europe you get olive oil and you only get like, are they stricter there?

They are very strict there. It does happen in a much smaller degree there. But people in Europe know their olive oil. Like, they know what good fresh olive oil tastes like. You go to Europe and you know, depending on what country you're in, like, we have ketchup on every table at every restaurant you go to. Like, it's just doesn't matter what restaurant you're at. There's like a bottle of ketchup there. It's just like that in Europe, except for there's a bottle of olive oil there and you can be guaranteed that it's fresh. It came from probably A local farm. And they're very, very particular about the olive oil because they use it in everything. And so they aren't tricked as easily as we are, because they know what good olive oil tastes like and what it should be like. Here in the States, we're not super olive oil connoisseurs. You know, we don't. It's not something that is on every one of our tables. It's not something that we have. So we're a lot easier tricked, unfortunately. And because it's not really scrutinized and there aren't a lot of laws around it, they really have to meet, like, the smallest standard to be able to be put on our shelves and to be olive oil out there. And so I was actually in Costco the other day, and I always go down the olive oil aisles because I'm always.

No, come on, Brandy.

No.

Like, you can't. You know, you can't buy it at Costco.

No, no. But I always go and look at it because I'm always curious at what's the new marketing trend? How are people being tricked? What are the labels saying? Because I want to know what's out there so I can help educate people. And I noticed that there was this huge bottle of olive oil, which, of course, was in a plastic container that was clear, which are both two already. No no's. But when I looked closely at it, it was actually virgin olive oil, which is not. I just want everyone to know extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil are not the same. They're very different.

What's the difference?

So extra virgin is like it got pl the tree at the ripest state it could be, and it's taken directly to the pressing mill like it is the freshest you can get. Virgin olive oil. Yes. It's usually plucked off the tree when it's really ripe. It could sit in containers for weeks on end before it goes to the pressing mill. So it actually sits there and kind of ferments in the, you know, the containers because, you know, once you pick a fruit off of a tree, it already kind of starts to degrade. Right. And so it can sit there for however long and still go. It just has to meet a very minimal nutrient nutritional quality to be considered virgin. And then once the free fatty acid content in that goes below a certain point, then it's actually considered just olive oil, and it's no longer virgin or extra virgin. So extra virgin has the very highest nutritional content. So it's all lab tested, or it should be all lab tested. To make sure that it fits those categories. But in the Costco, I noticed that it said extra virgin olive oil. But extra was written really small. And as I looked at it closely, it was actually saying that it was like extra something else, but it was just virgin olive oil. And I was like, well, this is so tricky because people are thinking they're getting extra virgin olive oil and it is 100% not. And so it's really bad for me to go down those aisles because it just makes me angry.

It's a dark place. So, okay, so you, so obviously you buy your own olive oil, but what do people do? Is, is this the type of thing where you would want to go to like a, an ethnic market, a Greek market or an Italian market and say to them, okay, where you know what's, what actually is 100. Do you really need to get that smell? Like, obviously you're not going to buy it off Amazon. You're not going to. How are you going to, where are you going to go to get olive oil?

Yeah, that's a great question. And it's really hard here because like I said, the grocery store is probably the worst place to go. And it's because again, you don't know how long it's been sitting there. There's no way to know. And for a lot of us who have very reputable, really good olive oil, we put the use by date and we put the harvest date on there. So definitely look for that. If you, or if you're looking at an olive oil and it doesn't have the information on it, then you really have no idea how long it's been sitting there. So that's a caution. But yeah, there's always specialty importers that usually have specialty stores, things like that that are around that you usually can go and talk to them, ask questions they know a little bit more about. Of the reasons I started importing olive oil from my partners in Italy, because I only do current season, I always make sure that it is the freshest. I always lab test it. There's so many things that I do. And so one of the reasons I started doing that is because I wanted high quality olive oil that I knew 100% was good, but then I wanted to make sure that that was available to people here in the States as well. And so you can always reach out to companies like mine. There are other importers in the state too that have very high oil standards, sustainability quality and things like that that are, are high value. So you can always do stuff like that, order Them online from like I sell online. There's other companies like mine that sell online. So you definitely can order, get it shipped right to your house. And know that you're getting something high quality. And it's always worth the extra effort to know that you're getting that nutritional content and that high quality value. Because otherwise you're kind of wasting your money on something that you either won't use because you don't like the taste of it, or it burns when you cook with it. And then you're also not getting those nutrients. So, you know, what's the point?

So, okay, so when you're going back to the harvested date, essentially, you know when you're looking at this metal bot. Metal can, Right. Is there another glass? What are the other ways? Yeah, glass, but it has to be tinted so it doesn't get oxidized. Okay.

Yeah.

So either metal or glass. And you're looking at. It has the harvest date, essentially. Do you have two years from the harvest date to use it?

Yeah.

Is that, Is that how you look at. Okay, yeah. And how do you store olive oil? Like, I put mine underneath the. Underneath a cabinet closed off. It's in a metal bottle, so a can. So but in glass, I'm imagining you want to protect it from light.

Yeah.

Right.

So you always, if you're buying glass bottle olive oil, you want to make sure that it's tinted. So a lot of times it's green tinted on purpose because that green color actually reflects the light away from the olive oil, so it helps protect it. And glass is also, one, it's really sustainable, it's not plastic. But two, actually helps preserve those wonderful nutrients. And so you're doing the right thing. So you want cool, dark place. So things like a pantry, a cabinet, something like that, away from heat. So if you're storing it like say above your stove or oven or something like that, there's a chance that heat could kind of collect in that area. So that might not be the best place. You want to try and keep it away from heat. So cool and dark. If you're someone who's like, I really think this bottle is beautiful and I want it on my counter, you can definitely do that. I always recommend, though, if you're going to store it on your counter, if you're going to put it in like a fancy clear dispenser bottle, something like that that you like the look of, plan on using it quickly because it. Every minute that it's exposed to light or heat, it starts to degrade and so, and I don't mean like, it's immediate. It's not like you sit it there and then within an hour, it's terrible. But you want to use it quickly. And the other question I get asked often is people go to fancy restaurants and they see chefs who have olive oil in like a plastic squeeze bottle that they can like squeeze over stuff. What's important to know about that is that doesn't mean that that's the right way to store it or use it. They use it because they fill that container and it's completely gone by the end of their shift, like within hours of cooking. So it's not that they're storing it in those squeeze bottles. They put it in there for ease of use while they're cooking and making dishes in a restaurant. They don't ever store it that way. If they do, they shouldn't. But I always get asked that question because they're like, will this f fancy restaurant has it in these plastic squeeze bottles, so I should too? No, no. They're using every ounce of that during that. That dinner serving. So it's important to note that that's not the way that they are purchasing it or storing it.

Okay, so let's recap. One, it's amazing for you. It's anti inflammatory. It's got great minerals, nutrients, and it's good for cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, overall inflammatory support. So you should eat it regularly. A make sure it's pure olive oil. So get it from a reputable person, reputable company supply, ideally organic in glass or metal. Check the harvested and best buy dates and it shouldn't be longer than two years from the time that it's been harvested.

Yeah.

And if you're going to make it in display, use it quickly. When you say quickly, what's quickly to you? Is it a week, is it two days? Like, what's the turnaround if you're going.

To display it on your counter and like a clear something, I would say within a week, use it. Use whatever you put in that container within a week. And I would say don't pour your whole bottle in there. Like, if you're thinking, oh, I'm going to cook with it maybe three times this week, don't fill that whole container up. Put whatever you think you're going to use in the week and store the rest of it in a cool, dry place.

Got it. Okay. This is really cool brandy. And like, you know, I told you I don't eat olive oil because I don't like the flavor of it. But since we got the. The harvested at the peak and it's extra virgin, there's nothing else in it. I actually really like it, which is cool. Where can people learn more? And this product. Yeah, and we'll put everything in the, in the show notes too.

Yeah, of course. So you can find our olive oil@cesaroliodioliva.com so it's C E S I R A D or O L I O D O L I V A. So it actually is Cesar and olive oil in Italian dot com. And you can actually, you can read about our journey. You can find the olive oils, all the different things. We actually just, just in April won an international gold award, making us one of the best olive oils in the world, which is fantastic. I know, it's so exciting. So you can learn about that and you can order olive oil and stuff straight from the website. We do have some partners that we share. We have a couple of different gift bundles with pasta people and stuff like that. So there's different gift bundles on there as well. You can find us on Facebook or Instagram by just going to Cesara underscore Oliodeoliva for, for. For any social media. It's the same for all of them. And you can kind of see what we're up to, things like that. We're going to Italy in November to meet with our partner. So you can follow us on that journey if you want to follow us on social media as well. And then you can always find me@brandymilenberg.com which is my functionally autoimmune website. And you can always reach out to me there as well.

This has been amazing branding. Now, now tonight I'm not gonna be home till like 7 o', clock, but I'm gonna have a salad with. We're growing all these vegetables in our garden and I'm gonna have a salad. I'm using olive oil tonight normally.

But.

I'm going to use olive oil tonight because you're going to get me back in the swing of it. So thank you and for the listeners, go take care of your health. Thank you for being with us. This is Brandi Meilenberg. She is an expert in all things functionally autoimmune as well as an olive oil expert. So Brandi, thank you for being with us today. And we'll put everything in the show notes and let's get back to feeling freaking amazing. Have a great weekend. Sam.