Sunday Times 2
How olive oil reverses heart disease threat
Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil could help reverse symptoms which can lead to heart disease, research has revealed.
A study found people who followed a diet of fruit, vegetables, fish and wholegrains, with either added olive oil or nuts, reduced their obesity and blood glucose levels – both symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Following a low-fat diet did not have the same effect.
Eating Mediterranean: A diet rich in vegetables and fish with added olive oil (Reuters)
Metabolic syndrome affects a quarter of the world’s adult population and is a combination of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity which puts patients at higher risk of heart disease and strokes.
Spanish researchers studied nearly 5,800 men and women aged 55 to 80 who were at risk of heart disease for nearly five years.
The participants were divided into three groups: one ate a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil, the second ate a Mediterranean diet with added nuts and a third group ate a low-fat diet.
The researchers found both groups who followed the Mediterranean diets decreased their obesity and blood sugar levels over the study period.
Remarkably, while 64 per cent of participants had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study, more than a quarter no longer had symptoms of the condition after following the diet.
Lead author Dr Jordi Salas-Salvado, of Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus, said: ‘Because there were no between-group differences in weight loss or energy expenditure, the change is likely attributable to the difference in dietary patterns.’
The study suggested the olive oil-rich diet was the healthiest, as it appeared to prevent people from accumulating fat around their waists, which is often a precursor to diabetes.
Those who ate olive oil were less likely to store fat in this way – often described as an ‘apple-shaped’ body type – than those on a low-fat diet, even if they weighed the same.
It is thought the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of olive oil, nuts and the fruit and vegetables of the Mediterranean diet could help the body metabolise glucose and be a factor in lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
© Daily Mail, London