Yale School of Public Health
Quick: Grab the olive oil.
And not just any olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil.
And not just any extra virgin olive oil. The right kind for the vegetables you’re frying. Or the meat you’re flavoring. Or the ice cream to which you’re adding a kick.
Heading out in the sun? Grab some olive oil — and rub it on your shoulders. It’s a great way to block dangerous rays.
Don’t take it from me. Take it from Tassos Constantino Kyriakides and Vasilis Vasiliou. They know more than you’d ever think to ask about olive oil. And they’re on a mission to get people to use it all the time. To make people healthier. And to help save the planet.
The two Yale School of Public Health professors have been conducting research and traveling the globe building support to create a new Institute for Olive Science and Health in New Haven. They hope to support research into olive oil’s many health benefits, push for greater government regulation to protect consumers, and explore the ways greater olive oil use will fight climate change — since, it turns out, olive trees absorb more carbon than any other trees.
“A major carbon sink,” Vasiliou, an epidemiologist who researches gene-environment interactions, said of the trees.
Paul Bass Photo
Kyriakides and Vasiliou at WNHH FM.
The two sang the olive’s praises and dispelled some myths during a visit to WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program, as they prepare to lead an olive oil symposium in the legendary Greek city of Delphi in December.
One myth: That you shouldn’t fry at high heat with olive oil. It turns out olive oil adds the best flavor and preserves the most healthful properties of food at high heat, they argue.
And it has for 5,000 years.
“Olive oil,” said Kyriakides, “has stood the test of time.”
In addition to studying the health benefits of the Greek/Mediterranean diet and diving into biostatistics, Kyriakides obtained a certification as an olive oil … sommelier. That’s right. For free, he offers courses and advises chefs on which olive oils work best with which foods.
“We pick wine,” he reasons. “Why can’t we pick our own olive oil?”
The two discussed their two-year journey toward creating the new institute, and their future plans for it, during their “Dateline New Haven” visit. Click on the video below to watch the episode.