Rheumatoid Arthritis & Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Rheumatoid Arthritis & Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

Results of a study of people living in southern Greece suggest that

eating hearty amounts of extra virgin Olive Oil and vegetables may

reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, researchers

report.

 

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the

joints. Its cause is unknown, but genes, infectious agents,

hormones, and diet have been suggested as possible causes.

 

Some reports have suggested that fish oil and vegetable oil in the

diet may help relieve arthritis symptoms, but research has not

confirmed that these foods have a protective effect. The new study

findings suggest that olive oil and cooked vegetables may, in fact,

reduce arthritis risk.

 

" Consumption of both cooked vegetables and olive oil was

inversely... associated with risk of rheumatoid arthritis, "

according to the team of Greek and U.S. researchers, meaning that

individuals who had higher levels of these oils in their diets had a

lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

 

The team did not find evidence that fish consumption reduced the

risk.

 

The study was based on data from 145 patients with rheumatoid

arthritis and 188 people who did not have the disease. All of the

study participants lived in southern Greece and provided

demographic, socioeconomic, family and medical information.

 

The consumption of more than 100 food items was determined through

interviews. The research team, led by Athena Linos of the University

of Athens Medical School in Greece, estimated the number of days per

year that subjects consumed olive oil and tallied these numbers to

estimate consumption over a lifetime.

 

They then calculated the likelihood of developing rheumatoid

arthritis in relation to consumption of olive oil, fish, vegetables,

and other food groups.

 

The investigators found that people who consumed the least olive oil

were 2.5 times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than

those who consumed the most olive oil.

Further, those who consumed the most cooked vegetables had a 75%

lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, they note.

 

Although the mechanism by which these foods might lower the risk

remains unclear, the authors suggest that antioxidant substances

could play a role.

 

Olive oil is rich in vitamin E, which has " a beneficial biological

role as (a free) radical quencher. " Free radicals are molecules

involved in several chronic diseases as well as aging.

 

" It is possible that heat destroys the cell walls of cooked

vegetables, helping the body to absorb more of a potentially

beneficial substance, " the team writes in the December issue of the

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. But they add that

the " specific beneficial substances in cooked vegetables remain to

be identified. "

 

Linos and colleagues also note that the typical American diet is

rich certain types of fat that are broken down to " hormones

that promote inflammation.

 

The fatty acid in olive oil, on the other hand, is broken down to

hormones that inhibit inflammation.

 

 

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999;70:1077-1082.

 

http://www.olivetree.eat-online.net/framehealth.htm

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