The science
The extra virgin olive oil on your counter is doing more than you think.
I recently came across a study that made me feel very good about how I cook. Let me tell you what I found.
The research
I went down a rabbit hole. Here is what I found.
The study is called Multi-Omic Insights Into Mediterranean Diet-Associated Microbiota. It comes out of the Universitat de València — the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health — and the participants were recruited right there in the city.
The same city where I learned to cook with extra virgin olive oil. I did not miss that detail.
I am traveling to Valencia next week and have arranged to meet with two of the researchers. I have a lot of questions. I will share what I learn.
Extra virgin olive oil
I did not grow up using extra virgin olive oil. That started the year I moved to Valencia.
Once I was there, it went on everything. Bread, vegetables, beans, fish — it was just what you reached for. I kept cooking that way long after I came home.
The research is now giving me a better answer for why. The polyphenols in a high-quality extra virgin olive oil feed beneficial gut bacteria, which transform them into compounds that reduce inflammation and protect the gut lining. It is not the oil doing the work alone — it is the relationship between the oil, the microbes, and your body, built over time.
Not a supplement. Not a dose.
A relationship.
Plant diversity
My real obsession with the microbiome started when my kids were little.
I read book after book on nutrition and the gut — to the point where a doctor once asked if I was one. I was not. I just could not put the subject down.
What kept pulling me back is how fascinating it is. Our bodies are like powerful little engines that need good fuel to run well.
The study found that people eating 20 to 30 different plant foods per week develop the widest, most stable gut ecosystems. Herbs, legumes, nuts, vegetables, fermented foods — used daily, in cooking. Extra virgin olive oil running through all of it.
What you eat every day builds the ecosystem. It is just the long run.
From the kitchen
Herbed Smoked Paprika Roasted Walnuts
5 min prep · 12 min oven · Makes 2 cups
Walnuts are one of the easiest plant foods to add to the week. I keep a batch of these in the kitchen almost every week — on a cheese board, on salads, eaten straight from the jar. The extra virgin olive oil coats every ridge and carries the spices.
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw walnut halves
- 1–2 tablespoons Valèvida extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¾ tsp smoked paprika (Pimentón de la Vera)
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt · cracked black pepper
Method
- 1 Preheat oven to 320°F (160°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- 2 Toss walnuts with thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper. Crush the thyme between your fingers first — it wakes up the essential oils.
- 3 Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and stir until every walnut is coated.
- 4 Spread in a single layer. Roast 10–12 minutes, tossing once halfway. Watch the final minutes closely.
- 5 Cool completely on the pan. The crunch develops off the heat.
Valèvida
High enough to matter. Balanced enough that you will actually reach for it every day.
Cold-extracted from native Grossal olives in the Valencian hills. 569 mg/kg polyphenols. 0.11% acidity. Lab tested — zero detectable pesticides across 200+ compounds.
You just read why daily use matters. The Valèvida Circle makes sure you never skip a day.
Never run out →Or shop a single bottle