Nowadays, every Monday I wake up to a few emails/dms asking me what our olive oil polyphenols are and can our oil be drunk as a shot? It seems to be a growing trend with everyone hopping aboard the Don’t Die/ Bryan Johnson/ Tik Tok train, so I thought I’d take a moment to explain it here.
Yes, you can drink our oil as a shot.
But seriously, why would you? There’s no added health benefit for taking it alone. 1 – 2 tablespoons a day are recommended either in the morning or at night. You could drizzle it onto your eggs, salad, protein- it tastes delicious that way and you are still getting all the health benefits. Current wisdom lists the health benefits of reduced inflammation; increased cardiovascular health; improved digestion; brain protection and appetite suppressant. Please don’t take my word for it- I am neither a doctor nor scientist but there is plenty of literature on this topic. (Look into them at Harvard, Zoe Health, Olive Oil Associations, ScienceDirect, PubMed Central to name but a few.)
As a grower and producer, this is what I can tell you: Really good, fresh olive oil that is high in polyphenols will make you cough. Ours certainly does. We have a little saying in the olive oil tasting community: 1 cough is a bronze medal, 2 coughs a silver; 3 a gold. The coughing is caused by a natural compound called OLEOCANTHAL. It triggers a peppery, burning feel in your throat hence the cough. Don’t be alarmed- it’s a good thing- a sign of high quality.
So yes, take the shot if it makes you feel great. I prefer mine drizzled over avocado.
Polyphenols:
Every year we get out oil tested in August as part of the OlivesWA Awards Program. The chemical analysis is conducted by NSW Department of Primary Industries, using NIR (near-infrared) testing method. I’ll put them all below so you can see how there are other interesting health markers too- like the peroxide levels (exposure to light.)
The results vary every year for e.g. Wild Olive Farm oil 2023, the polyphenol count was 526, 2024 541 and in the tougher growing conditions of 2025 it was 342. All extremely high and we are so proud of those results.
Who knows what 2026 hold… we’ll let you know in August. By the way, all olive oil results get published in the awards booklet at OlivesWA so you can check and compare results yourself. It’s a great resource when you are researching buying local.
2023 Entry Test Results:
| ID#: | 1240 |
| Name: | Wild Olive Farm Certified Organic |
| FFA%: | 0.2 |
| Peroxide: | 5 |
| Polyphenol: | 526 |
| UV Absorbance | |
| Delta K 1% | 0 |
| Specific Extinction @ 232 nm | 1.71 |
| Specific Extinction @ 268 nm | 0.12 |
Entry Test Results:
| ID#: | 1240 |
| Name: | Wild Olive Farm Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil |
| FFA%: | 0.2 |
| Peroxide: | 4 |
| Polyphenol: | 541 |
| UV Absorbance | |
| Delta K 1% | 0 |
| Specific Extinction @ 232 nm | 1.68 |
| Specific Extinction @ 268 nm | 0.14 |
Entry Test Results:
| ID#: | 1240 |
| Name: | Wild Olive Farm Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil |
| FFA%: | 0.2 |
| Peroxide: | 7 |
| Polyphenol: | 342 |
| UV Absorbance | |
| Delta K 1% | 0 |
| Specific Extinction @ 232 nm | 1.9 |
| Specific Extinction @ 268 nm | 0.12 |