Stone-pressed olive oil occupies a unique and carefully qualified position within Aajonus Vonderplanitz's Primal Diet framework. It is the only form of olive oil he personally uses and recommends, and it is distinguished from all other processing methods by the specific mechanical and biochemical effect that granite stone-wheel pressing has on the naturally occurring toxic enzyme present in olives. Olive oil as a general category is not a vegetable oil in the technical sense Aajonus uses, a vegetable is a leaf, stalk, or root, and the olive is a fruit, but it behaves more like a vegetable fat than an animal fat in the human body, functioning overwhelmingly as a solvent and detoxifying agent rather than as a nourishing, stabilizing, or lubricating fat.

Aajonus states flatly: "The olive oil of a stone pressed is the best. And the only one that I ever use. I don't buy an olive oil that isn't stone pressed. I won't use or take an olive oil that isn't stone pressed."

Stone-pressed olive oil, within the Primal Diet, is therefore a medicinal food, a specialized solvent-reactive fat intended for limited, purposeful use in dissolving internal toxins, adhesions, scar tissue, plaque, and congestion. It is not a dietary staple or a primary fat source. It is always understood as a cleansing agent, never as a nourishing fat that builds, stabilizes, or protects tissue.

Its highest-level role is as a tool for internal detoxification, lymphatic support, and dissolution of degenerative tissue, and it is only safe and effective in this role when it is stone-pressed, unheated above 96 degrees Fahrenheit, and sourced from dark (ripe) olives that have not been treated with strychnine.

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Aajonus is explicit and consistent across all sources that pressed oils, including stone-pressed olive oil, are approximately 80 to 90 percent solvent-reactive in the body. In his exact words: "I find that 80 to 90% of pressed oils, more like 90%, are used to cleanse the body. They make good soaps like virus. Break things down. Dissolve things. They won't stabilize. They won't lubricate you."

He elaborates: "OILS, such as olive and flax are 90% solvent-reactive. That is, they are mainly used as cleansers to dissolve toxins. Our bodies cannot easily utilize pressed oils for lubrication, relaxation and stabilization. Pressed oils are beneficial in dissolving internal adhesions (scars) and dead cells, including benign or malignant tumors, and arterial and lymphatic congestion and plaque."

Aajonus documents the body's specific use of olive oil: "The body uses olive oil to cleanse blood and vitalize lungs, soften and then dissolve scar tissue."

This solvent-reactive nature means that consuming large amounts of olive oil drives heavy detoxification cycles, which can cause fatigue, lethargy, and systemic irritability. The body essentially converts most of the olive oil it receives into internally-produced soaps and solvents, similar to the action of virus, which Aajonus consistently frames not as living infectious agents but as internally produced biochemical soaps that dissolve specific degenerative materials.

The core distinction between stone-pressed olive oil and hydraulically or mechanically spin-pressed olive oil lies in how each method interacts with a specific naturally occurring toxic enzyme in olives.

Aajonus explains: "When they do it in the granite. When they use a wheel. Stone press. The way it's oxygenated. It destroys that enzyme."

He contrasts this directly: "But when it's hydraulically pressed. Or spin pressed. It's not the same. It can cause irritability. Deterioration of, of your nervous system."

The enzyme in question is the same one that makes raw olives naturally poisonous to consume. In commercial olive production, this enzyme is handled either by harvesting the olives when they are fully black and ripe, at which stage the enzyme has naturally dissipated, or by treating green olives with strychnine to destroy the enzyme chemically. Stone pressing destroys this enzyme through a process of oxygenation that occurs during the slow grinding of the fruit between granite surfaces. This is why stone-pressed olive oil, even when made from green olives, is acceptable, the oxygenation process during grinding neutralizes the enzyme that other methods leave intact or only partially address.

Hydraulic pressing and spin pressing do not produce this same oxygenation effect, and therefore the enzyme may remain present or partially active, contributing to the nervous system deterioration and irritability that Aajonus associates with improperly processed olive oil.

Even when properly stone-pressed, olive oil remains a highly acidic fat. Aajonus repeatedly characterizes it as "highly acidic, very acidic" and identifies this acidity as a primary mechanism by which olive oil, when consumed in excess, produces irritability, temperamental volatility, and deterioration of nervous system function. He states: "That olive oil is highly acidic, very acidic, and it can cause irritation to the nervous system."

He contrasts this with coconut oil, which "does not become acidic," and notes: "the acidic nature of oils is very different" from the acidic nature of animal tissue, which the body can transform. The acidity of pressed oils, including olive oil, is one that the body cannot as easily neutralize and re-purpose.

He also notes this acidity is the reason oil pulling with olive oil (swishing in the mouth) can cause soreness: "The problem with the olive oil. Is it made my mouth sore. Because of the acidity of it."

Aajonus distinguishes olive oil from coconut cream by noting that all pressed oils, including stone-pressed olive oil, contain only oil-soluble nutrients and none of the water-soluble vitamins, minerals, or fats. He states: "Coconut oil and all the pressed oils are only oil soluble. And they only mix with oil something else. So it helps to bring down oil-based toxicity out of the body."

He elaborates: "All oils don't. They contain only the fat-soluble, and that's only 8%, 7%, 9% maximum of what is in food."

Because the human body is approximately 80 percent water-soluble fats, Aajonus consistently positions coconut cream as superior to olive oil for most cleansing purposes, since coconut cream contains both water-soluble and oil-soluble fats. Olive oil is useful for dissolving oil-based toxicity and mineral stones, but it does not address water-soluble toxins the way coconut cream does.

One of the more dramatic effects Aajonus describes is that extreme overconsumption of olive oil, at the level of "a half a cup of olive oil a day", begins to replace brain tissue. He cites: "There was one scientist who looked into the people who ate predominantly, ate like a half a cup of olive oil a day, and there are some Greeks and Italians that do that. Those were the people who were most irritable and had less intelligence. Because that oil would go and replace the brain."

The acidic nature of the oil and its solvent-reactive quality means it does not nourish or build the nervous system the way animal fats do, it may, in excess, actually degrade the fat composition of the brain, as the body may incorporate it into brain tissue while the solvent action simultaneously causes neurological irritation.

Aajonus explains that because the human body operates at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and because vegetable oils and fruit oils (including olive oil) tend to crystallize at temperatures below 101–105 degrees, the human body is not well-suited to using olive oil as a structural fat. He states: "Olive oil will harden and crystallize to an extent, but not like vegetable oils will. It's a little bit lower rate, a longer period for olive oil to do that to you."

He elaborates: "Any kind of pressed oil is mainly for detoxification... it takes about three to five years for this to start crystallizing in your body."

If a person relies on olive oil as their primary fat source, meaning it becomes what their cells are literally built from, the cells will eventually harden because the oil crystallizes at body temperature over time. This can contribute to arteriosclerosis, although at a slower rate than seed vegetable oils. Animal fats, by contrast, never crystallize and simply return to earth when decomposed.

Aajonus consistently describes pressed oils, including stone-pressed olive oil, as providing nutrients for the body to produce virus, which in his framework are not living infectious agents but internally produced biochemical soaps that dissolve specific degenerative compounds. He states: "They make good soaps like virus. Break things down. Dissolve things." And: "Pressed oils often cause dry and acrid conditions in the body."

The specific dissolving action of olive oil as documented includes: cleansing blood, vitalizing lungs, softening and dissolving scar tissue.

In the broader workshop transcripts, Aajonus says pressed oils including olive oil are beneficial for dissolving: internal adhesions, scars, dead cells, benign or malignant tumors, arterial plaque, lymphatic congestion, and mineral stones.

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Aajonus is unambiguous: the only form of olive oil he uses or recommends is stone-pressed, using granite wheel pressing. "The olive oil of a stone pressed is the best. And the only one that I ever use. I don't buy an olive oil that isn't stone pressed. I won't use or take an olive oil that isn't stone pressed."

The reason stone pressing is acceptable while hydraulic and spin pressing are not is the oxygenation-mediated destruction of the toxic enzyme that occurs specifically when granite wheels roll over the olives slowly. The enzyme that causes nervous system deterioration is neutralized by this process.

All acceptable olive oil, whether stone-pressed or cold-pressed, must be produced at a temperature that does not exceed 96 degrees Fahrenheit at any point during processing and bottling. Aajonus states this ceiling repeatedly and unambiguously: "I recommend no oil pressed above 96 degrees. Any kind of pressed oil, whether it's olive oil... you keep those down to a minimum and keep the temperature below 96 degrees."

He explains the critical threshold: "I do know that the virtues diminish if heated above 96° Fahrenheit."

He also notes uncertainty below this ceiling: "I do not know if the virtues that I have stated throughout the remedy section would diminish if the olive oils were cold-pressed above 80° Fahrenheit yet below 96° Fahrenheit."

In one Q&A exchange about Flora flaxseed oil being pressed at 98 degrees, Aajonus clarifies a distinction: "98 degrees F. for flax oil is okay, but not for olive, peanut or coconut oils." This indicates that 96 degrees is a firm upper limit specifically for olive oil and is not negotiable to 98 degrees the way it may be for certain other oils.

He also notes from practical experience: "I took a heat gun and I put it right where the oil was. He put it over here not to the point where they were coming out of the tank. These people, those that I know that have gone up and investigated and proved the substance. Oils build temperatures. And an oil never should go over 96 degrees Fahrenheit."

Aajonus distinguishes clearly between oils derived from dark (ripe, black) olives and oils derived from green (unripe) olives:

"You'll see olive oils that are slightly amber. They're that squeeze pressed. From dark olives. Ripe olives. And that's okay. But most of your olive oil is from green olives."

"Any of your dark olive oils. Are not going to have the strychnine in it. Your amber. Any that's green. Going to have strychnine in it."

"Dark olive oil is okay. Still acidic. And it's still too much of it. Will cause too much detoxification. And make you irritable."

He notes that Greeks tend to use dark olive oils more frequently than Italians, who consume largely green-olive-sourced oils. The strychnine treatment applied to green olives is the additional contaminating factor on top of the already problematic hydraulic and spin-pressing methods used for the majority of commercial olive oils.

Even stone-pressed olive oil from dark olives, however, is "still acidic" and still capable of causing excessive detoxification and irritability if consumed in too-large amounts.

Aajonus explicitly states: "Olive oil should not be refrigerated."

He provides detailed storage instructions: "Placing each bottle of oil inside a brown paper bag, pressing the bag around the bottle, putting a rubber band at the neck, and putting the oil in the darkest, coolest cupboard prevents the bottle of oil from turning bitter and/or flat."

He also notes that the Italian Sauce recipe made with stone-pressed olive oil should be stored in a cupboard: "Do not refrigerate at any time."

This is in direct contrast to flax oil, which must be refrigerated due to its extreme vulnerability to oxidation and light, and coconut cream, which should also be refrigerated.

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Aajonus names a specific preferred brand repeatedly: "The most delicious one I like is Oliflex. O-L-I-F-L-I-X... That's my favorite... It's from Portugal... It's the best-tasting, smoothest, yet still strong."

He also mentions Spectrum Naturals as acceptable: "It's still good as long as it's the organic, you know, cold-pressed one." However, he distinguishes that his preference for Spectrum applies specifically to their olive oil and peanut oil, and that some of their other products have problems.

He states that Oliflex is "not the only one", any dark olive oil that is stone-pressed will avoid the strychnine contamination issue.

Aajonus emphasizes that genuine stone-pressed olive oil is genuinely difficult to find because modern commercial production has moved entirely toward fast mechanical methods: "It's hard to find a stone pressed olive oil. These days. Body wants to do it fast with machinery. And stone. Rolling over the olives. And then having to filter it is a slow process."

Aajonus presents an extensive critique of the commercial olive oil industry that bears directly on sourcing decisions:

The Strychnine Treatment of Green Olives: "What they do is run the olives over these needles. And they're very fine needles. And they scratch. They roll them over. And it scratches the entire surface of the olives. Then they spray. Diluted in water. Distilled water. Strychnine. In it. So that kills that particular enzyme. That can cause you to get very sick."

The strychnine is "almost odorless when it's mixed with water." It does its damage to the enzyme, but then the consumer is receiving strychnine along with the olive oil: "But then you're getting the strychnine with the olive. And a lot of it that's dangerous."

The Supply Shortage and Adulteration: Aajonus warns that due to global demand far exceeding actual olive grove production capacity, approximately 90 percent of commercially sold olive oil is fraudulent: "Probably 90% of all olive oils are not really olive oils. They're diluting them by up to 90%."

"There are enough olive groves in the world to feed maybe 30 million people. So now they're taking olive oil and they're mixing it with either, not even a vegetable oil, usually using mineral oils or oils made from petroleum. They clarify it and then hydrogenated. So you're eating hydrogenated oils, even though you're eating the olive oil not to eat hydrogenated oils. Plastic oils."

"Any food that's fried in any restaurant, anywhere unless they're frying it in olive oil, but 90% of all the olive oils on the planet are only 10% olive oil, and 90% hydrogenated oils. Mineral oils, not even vegetable oils."

This means that even products labeled as extra-virgin olive oil are most likely 90% petroleum-based or other hydrogenated oils.

California Olive Oil: In a specific Q&A exchange about "California Heritage Olive Oil from Living Tree Community Foods," Aajonus states directly: "California's olive country is full of pesticides and herbicides, therefore this oil MAY be affected." He also raises the concern about separating solutions: "Is there any type of solution used to help separate the oil from the pulp? Many oil companies claim cold processing, but use solvents and/or separating solutions instead of heat."

Living Tree Community Foods, Centrifuge Process: A Q&A documents the response from Living Tree's president that their olive oil is "raw, unfiltered, unheated and UNPRESSED produced in a water-jacketed centrifuge at room temperature." Aajonus's response acknowledges this but adds a caveat about verification: "In the past, I have found that most executives of companies are not reliable sources for confirmation of processes; that is why I asked you to speak with the chief chemist for the company."

Aajonus advises consumers to go directly to manufacturers: "I suggest you go to the manufacturer and say, what is your method and what's the on the machine?" And: "Write or call the producers or distributors of cold-pressed oils. Discover the maximum temperature each oil reaches all times during processing and bottling. Many producers and distributors label their oils cold-pressed but temperatures will be as high as 250° Fahrenheit depending on the speed and friction produced by the machinery."

He also recommends getting any claims in writing: "get whatever they claim in writing."

He adds a practical caution: "I took a heat gun and I put it right where the oil was. He put it over here not to the point where they were coming out of the tank." The implication is that heat measurements must be taken at the actual point of oil extraction, not at an adjacent point on the machinery.

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Aajonus states specifically "Eating citrus fruit or tomato with or immediately after olive oil helps digest olive oil."

This is a nutritional pairing requirement specific to olive oil. The acidity and particular chemical structure of the oil appears to require the enzymatic assistance of citrus or tomato to be properly processed.

In discussing the temperament effects of olive oil on populations that consume it in high amounts, Aajonus notes: "unless they're fat with cheeses, and then that'll buffer it some." This implies that consuming animal fats such as raw cheese alongside olive oil reduces the irritability and nervous system stimulation caused by olive oil's acidity. It is not presented as a hard biochemical requirement but as a practical buffer.

Aajonus consistently presents stone-pressed olive oil as a component of meat sauces and dressings rather than as a standalone food. He suggests a tablespoon maximum "in a sauce or something like that, like, you know, an olive oil sauce for a meat dish with garlic and onions in it, or something like the Italians eat." This positions olive oil as an adjunct to the primary protein-and-fat meal rather than as a primary component.

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Aajonus does not present stone-pressed olive oil as a primary topical agent. He consistently recommends coconut cream for skin application due to its water-soluble and fat-soluble content, its non-acidic nature, and its ability to contain all fat-soluble vitamins and enzymes.

The implicit topical contraindication for olive oil is its acidity, the same acidity that makes daily oil pulling cause gum soreness would presumably cause similar irritation on prolonged topical skin contact.

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Aajonus repeatedly specifies the same dosage ceiling across multiple sources:

"I suggest no more than a tablespoon a day or five tablespoons a week if you're going to have it at one time in one sauce or something like that."

"Never more than a tablespoon a day."

"I recommend the moderate eating of oils, no more than once a day or every other day, and that oils be consumed mainly with one meat meal."

For larger individuals: "If you're 6'5", you could have two tablespoons a day." This is the only body-size-based variation Aajonus provides.

He acknowledges that the tablespoon-per-day amount can be consolidated into a single weekly meal: "or five tablespoons a week if you're going to have it at one time in one sauce or something like that, like an olive oil sauce for a meat dish with garlic and onions in it... But I would only have that once a week."

Aajonus acknowledges that people whose bodies have been conditioned for generations to consume large amounts of olive oil, specifically Italian and Greek populations, may tolerate higher amounts because "your body is already used to that kind of decontamination or detoxifying. Your body will use it in somewhat different manner." However, he does not present this as a positive outcome but as an adaptation to a less-than-ideal dietary pattern, noting that even these populations display elevated temperament, irritability, and the physical effects of excessive internal cleansing.

The 96-degree Fahrenheit maximum during processing applies not just at one stage but "all times during processing and bottling." This is not a processing guideline that allows for brief exceedances, it is a ceiling that must never be crossed. Above this temperature, the virtues of the oil definitively diminish.

Aajonus also notes from a Q&A: "98 degrees F. for flax oil is okay, but not for olive, peanut or coconut oils." This confirms that the 96-degree threshold is strictly enforced specifically for olive oil.

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Yield: 2 Servings - 5 ounces stone-pressed olive oil - 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary - 1 tablespoon finely chopped basil - ¼ garlic clove, pressed (optional)

Stir all ingredients together in an 8-ounce jar for 1 minute. Cap and let stand in cupboard for at least 3 days. Do not refrigerate at any time.

Variation: To flavor a whole bottle of olive oil, triple the quantities of rosemary, basil, and garlic, add to bottle of oil, and let stand for at least 3 days.

Yield: 1 Serving - 5 tablespoons stone-pressed olive oil - 2 tablespoons grated no-salt-added raw cheese - 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh bay leaves - (additional ingredients follow in the recipe)

Yield: 3 Servings - 2 eggs - 2 teaspoons mustard - ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice - 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted raw butter - 6 tablespoons stone-pressed olive oil - 2 pinches ground white pepper

Blend all ingredients together in a 12-ounce jar on medium speed for 15–20 seconds.

Yield: 1 Serving - 2 ounces pecan halves - 1 egg - 2–4 tablespoons chopped fresh red onion - 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg - 1 pinch freshly ground coriander seeds - 1 pinch freshly ground mixed peppercorns - 2 ounces meat-fat trimmings or unsalted raw butter - 1 tablespoon stone-pressed olive oil - 2 tablespoons unheated honey

Blenderize pecans in an 8-ounce jar until they are flour. Add egg, nutmeg, coriander, peppercorns, fat or butter, oil, and honey, and blenderize on medium speed for 15 seconds. Add sauce to meat and top with chopped red onion.

A recipe from Benefits of Eggs and Cheese lists: - Unsalted butter (or stone-pressed olive oil) as a substitution option - ½-inch cube no-salt-added raw cheese - 1 slice fresh garlic - ½ to 1 tablespoon chopped fresh red onion - Favorite fresh herbs to taste (optional)

All ingredients at room temperature. Warm butter in an 8-ounce jar capped with blender washer/blades/base, immersed in bowl of warm water until butter melts. Add rest of ingredients and blenderize on medium speed for 10 seconds.

• 1 tomato
• 1 tablespoon unsalted raw butter
• 1 tablespoon stone-pressed olive oil
• 1 teaspoon unheated honey
• 1 teaspoon raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh red (onion/pepper, recipe continues)

In early training transcripts, Aajonus discusses the use of olive oil on pasta with herbs: "They put herbs in the olive oil and then I will just pour that on my pasta... you could just crunch up some garlic and put olive oil and garlic over the pasta. Let the pasta cool to the four second rule." He also presents butter with herbs as an equivalent or superior alternative.

In The Recipe for Living Without Disease, a Lentil Soup recipe calls for olive oil as part of the sauce/dressing component at 2 tablespoons stone-pressed olive oil along with other ingredients in a blended preparation.

As described in the therapeutic section, raw sliced meat packed into jars with just enough stone-pressed olive oil to fill the spaces between the meat slices. This preserves the meat for up to a year with no fermentation. Aajonus describes eating a one-year-old jar of olive-oil-preserved meat as "perfect shape. No fermentation... every time I ate it, it was really good."

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Aajonus uses the terms "stone-pressed" and "cold-pressed below 96 degrees Fahrenheit" somewhat interchangeably in some contexts but maintains a clear hierarchy. Stone-pressed (granite wheel) is the explicitly preferred method because of its unique oxygenation mechanism. Cold-pressed below 96 degrees is the minimum acceptable standard for any olive oil. Stone-pressed by definition operates within the cold-pressed temperature range, but not all cold-pressed olive oils are stone-pressed.

He states: "The olive oils that I have been using have been either stone-pressed or cold-pressed below 80° Fahrenheit." And: "An unheated stone-pressed or granite-pressed olive oil is equivalent", this appears in the context of a specific formula where stone-pressed olive oil serves as an equivalent substitute for another oil.

A Q&A exchange introduces a third category: olive oil produced via a "water-jacketed centrifuge at room temperature" that is "raw, unfiltered, unheated and UNPRESSED." Aajonus's response is cautiously open: "If the president is also the chief chemist for the company, then his confirmation is probably accurate." He does not categorically reject this method but treats it as unverified and notes that executives are generally not reliable sources and that the chief chemist's confirmation is required.

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This documented historical account appears consistently in both We Want to Live and The Recipe for Living Without Disease as one of Aajonus's most important pieces of evidence for the inferiority of olive oil relative to animal fats:

"In WW I, a Russian general recorded in his log that 3 months after his troops exhausted the raw butter supply and resorted to consuming olive oil, the men's hair, nails and skin dried. The log stated that several weeks after they were able to obtain raw dairy again, the men's hair, nails and skin became supple and moist."

Aajonus also relays this in the workshop transcripts: "As soon as they had to resort to olive oil and other pressed oils, their skin and hair dried out within three months. Those are great oils to clean out your system, but remember they are remedial. They are medicines. They are not to be consumed too much at a time."

Aajonus describes the political and financial origins of the "olive oil is healthy" narrative as fundamentally dishonest and money-driven: "The politicians of the time were getting kickbacks from the olive groves to make it an issue. So they were talking about olive oil has a high labial point. You can cook with olive oil and be healthier than cooking with butter, anything like that. It was all hogwash. It was a lie. But there was money there. Money for the special few that were in Tavern Authority to start this."

He equates this to the "margarine is good, butter is bad" campaign as part of the same era of nutritional disinformation.

The scale of fraud is described as follows: because global olive grove capacity cannot supply the worldwide demand for olive oil, estimated at a maximum of 30 million people's worth annually at two quarts per person per year, the industry fills the gap by adulteration: "They're taking olive oil and they're mixing it with either, not even a vegetable oil, usually using mineral oils or oils made from petroleum. They clarify it and then hydrogenate. So you're eating hydrogenated oils, even though you're eating the olive oil."

Aajonus states: "90% of all olive oils are not really olive oils. They're diluting them by up to 90%." And: "two quarts a year. That's not very much fat. It's a lot of oil and what happens when you put oil in the body anyway? Most of it doesn't digest, it just passes through."

Aajonus draws a pointed cultural observation connecting the Italian community's heavy olive oil consumption, predominantly from strychnine-treated green olives, hydraulically pressed, to behavioral patterns: "I'd be out killing people too. I'd be out being a Mafia guy too. And there's nobody that consumes more olive oil than the Italian community. It's amazing how much they consume." This is framed not as a cultural insult but as a direct physiological consequence of consuming strychnine-contaminated, improperly processed, highly acidic olive oil in large quantities.

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