This 3-Second Trick Lets You Know If Your Olive Oil Is Real & Full Of Health Benefits

You've likely heard the news: More than 69 percent of the extra-virgin olive oil available at the supermarket is not, in fact, extra virgin. In fact, much of it isn't olive oil at all: Many companies use soybean or sunflower oil as cheaper alternatives to olive oil, so they can turn a greater profit.

The problem? Even if you know that it's hard to procure true olive oil, it can be hard to figure out how to actually find the stuff. Yes, you can visit your local farmers market and chat with the person actually cultivating the trees (and we always recommend that), but for many of us, that option simply isn't available. You can also send your favorite brand off to a lab, where they'll test its compounds—but that's expensive and, again, rather inaccessible.

The simplest takeaway? If you don't cough—or at least have a tickle in your throat—it's likely your oil either is based in a different type or utilizing lower-quality olive oil, typically derived from older batches that have lost many of their health benefits (at best) or gone rancid (at the worst). When an oil goes rancid, it oxidizes. You know how the health world glorifies antioxidants? Oxidized food is the opposite of that—meaning, yes, your olive oil could be hurting your health more than helping.