Olive Oil And Blood Pressure
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Diet has an important role in the prevention and treatment of hypertension. In early epidemiological studies, conducted mainly in the USA, monounsaturated fatty acids showed a deleterious association with blood pressure or no relationship at all. However, more recent studies, conducted in Mediterranean countries, have shed new light on this issue. 22
People who ate a Mediterranean Diet seemed to enjoy generally low blood pressure. Of course, the question remained: Was the low pressure a result of other components of the diet? What particular role did olive oil play? To learn the answer, a team from the University of Athens studied more than twenty thousand Greeks who were free of hypertension when the study began. At the end of the study, data confirmed that, overall, the Mediterranean Diet was consistently associated with lower blood pressure. When the effects of olive oil and vegetables were compared, olive oil alone was found to be responsible for the most beneficial effect in lowering blood pressure. 25
It seems that olive oil has a beneficial effect on the vascular endothelium, the cells lining the blood vessels. A study in Spain found that subjects who used olive oil for four weeks reported both systolic and diastolic blood pressure to drop approximately 8 mm. Another very interesting study found that not only did olive oil lower blood pressure, it also rendered medication less necessary for the participating subjects. 25
Epidemiological studies suggest that Olive Oil as the main source of fat could considerably lower cancer incidence. The reason is that the cell mutations caused by cancer are partly due to toxins which, when consumed through the diet, attack DNA. On passing through the liver, these toxins produce free radicals that then attack DNA. To combat such free radicals, the body needs vitamins and antioxidants like those contained in Olive Oil. 12
It has also been reported that an Olive Oil � rich diet is associated with reduced risk of bowel cancer. The protective effect of Olive Oil is irrespective of the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten in the diet. 12
Recent studies have demonstrated that Olive Oil provides protection against cancer of the colon. Lately, research has been looking into the metabolic implications of fats, more specifically the protective role of Olive Oil in chronic liver disease and in the disorder of the intestines known as Crohn’s disease. Results point to beneficial effects of Olive Oil on pre-cancerous lesions. After analyzing three types of diet, research scientists arrived at various conclusions. The Olive Oil diet reduced the number of cancerous lesions; the number of tumours that developed was clearly and significantly low; and the tumours were less aggressive and had a better prognosis. 12
When buying olive oil for cooking or food preparation other than baking desserts, shop around for Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Although the best health benefits are found in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, when baking desserts with olive oil, use only pure olive oil. Adding those flavors found in Virgin Olive Oils tend to alter the desired taste in your favorite desserts. Pure olive oil is made by adding a little extra virgin olive oil to refined olive oil. It is a lesser grade oil than most virgin oils, but still contains the monounsaturated fatty acids and phenols. When baking desserts with olive oil, use only pure or light olive oil. However, when preparing non sweet foods, always use VIRGIN olive oil. 11
Other oils have a high monounsaturate content but they contain smaller quantities of these polyphenols (Colquhoun et al., 1996). There are oils that are rich in oleic acid, but they all necessarily have to be refined before being eaten. As a result, they do not taste as pleasant as olive oil and are used less often for dressings. Olive oil is the only oil that can be eaten as soon as it is extracted (virgin oil) without refining or industrial processing, which enables it to retain innumerable substances, antioxidants and vitamins that add to its nutritional value. In 1992 Gey et al. The important protective role of vitamin E was demonstrated in the MONICA project, which reported vitamin E deficiency as a greater cardiovascular risk than blood cholesterol and high blood pressure. 26
Much has still to be discovered about how Olive Oil affects cancer and concrete data are still lacking on the mechanisms behind the beneficial role it plays in the prevention or inhibition of the growth of different types of cancer. However, according to the information available at present, Olive Oil could act simultaneously during the different stages involved in the process of cancer formation. 12
The monounsaturated fatty acids in olive oil make it more resistant to heat. Consequently, olive oil can be re-used for frying without undergoing hydrogenation or isomerisation processes that cancel out its beneficial effects on lipid metabolism. It is the lightest and tastiest fat for frying (Varela et al., 1980; 1984; 1986; 1988; 1996). 26
According to the authors of the study, people on diets containing high levels of olive oil had less risk of suffering from this disease. The study found that the people who consumed less olive oil had 2.5 times more possibility of developing rheumatoid arthritis than those who consumed it more frequently. 9
In 1985, Mancini et al. Recent research (Ferrara et al, 2000) reports that the use of olive oil lowers daily anti-hypertensive dosage requirements, possibly through enhanced nitric oxide levels stimulated by polyphenols. 26
Arteriosclerosis is the condition in which cholesterol-rich patches (known as atheromas) deposit on the walls of the arteries. This stops blood from reaching the tissues and obstructs the functioning of vital organs, such as the heart and brain. 12
An olive-oil-rich diet is not only a good alternative in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (Bonanome et al., 1991); it can also prevent or slow down the onset of the disease. It prevents insulin resistance and its possible harmful consequences (Wolever et al., 1999; Mancini et al., 1992), it raises HDL-cholesterol and it lowers blood triglycerides (Lerman-Garber et al., 1994). In addition, it ensures better control of the glucose in the blood (Garg et al., 1988, 1993, 1994) and it lowers blood pressure (Rassmussen et al., 1993). Olive oil significantly improves cell glucose utilisation and lowers triglycerides, and it is more pleasing to the palate than a high-carbohydrate diet containing the same amount of fibre (Campbell et al., 1994). 26
Detta ?en enorm grupp livsmedel och alla sorters godis inneh?er givetvis inga h?ade fetter, men ju mer fett de inneh?er desto st? Kola, fudge, sega godisar med ett inneh? 47
References
The Panacea offers these health-extracts to help people investigate health-related subjects in greater depth using the references given in each paragraph. Kindly note that these are current extracts from the web, meant for research, and that these are not meant to be medical advise. For all your health-related needs you must consult trained and licensed personnel.
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