What to know about this unlikely pairing.
Instead of a spoonful of sugar, would you add a splash of olive oil to your coffee? Starbucks is betting on it. The coffee behemoth introduced a new line of drinks this month that all feature a serving of the stuff. The Oleato beverages (named after the Italian for “with oil”) are available in the chain’s 25 locations spread across Italy, and will debut in California this spring.
The company’s interim CEO Howard Schultz is pushing the new drink as a “new revolution in coffee,” and has gushed that the extra virgin infuses the coffee with a “velvety, very luscious, almost creamy” flavor. Actually, people have been stirring fats into their coffee for a long time, and while that may make for a tasty cup of joe, most of these additions aren’t great for us. Health guru Dr. Mark Hyman tells us that most creamers are “made of ‘junk dairy’” and really should be nixed from your morning brew. There’s also the Bulletproof coffee diet, which promotes a buttered coffee replacement for breakfast, and has received mixed reviews from nutritionists. Could an olive oil substitute be any healthier?
Is olive oil in coffee good for you?
In recent years, a growing set of health-conscious Americans have come to embrace extra virgin olive oil in their cooking. That’s led to a pandemic-era boom in olive oil sales, says Joseph Profaci, Executive Director of the North American Olive Oil Association.
At this point, the benefits of the ingredient, which has been a staple for centuries in parts of the Mediterranean, are hard to deny. It’s been shown to lower blood pressure and combat inflammation, according to the American Heart Association. And it’s rich in polyphenols, an antioxidant, which some studies suggest may help prevent cancer.
It’s also high in monosaturated fat, which can lower levels of LDL (so-called “bad” cholesterol) and raise HDL, the good cholesterol, in the blood. One recent analysis found that people who consumed at least one-and-a-half tablespoons of olive oil daily had a 14 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers also believe that coffee, when taken black, is heart-healthy too. So in theory, an olive-oil coffee concoction could be a dream pairing.
“It’s just a brilliant idea combining two of the best polyphenol-containing compounds on Earth together,” Steven Gundry, M.D., a doctor who encourages a daily dose of olive oil, tells CBS.
However, nutrition experts say there could be drawbacks, too. For one, the Oleato line includes some lattes that are injected with sweet creams, syrups, and milk alternatives, which are typically high in added sugar. Those additions could diminish any of the benefits you’d get from just ingesting either coffee or olive oil on their own, Rigved Tadwalkar, M.D., a California cardiologist, tells Prevention.
The other thing to keep in mind is that olive oil is very high in calories; a single tablespoon contains about 120. So if your doctor has recommended losing weight as part of your health plan, you may want to steer clear of Starbucks’ new experiment.
The bottom line, one registered dietitian tells CBS, is that on their own (and in moderation) olive oil and coffee are both great to incorporate into your diet. But that doesn’t mean they need to be consumed at the same time.
