Virgin olive oil deemed especially heart healthy

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Virgin olive oil deemed especially heart healthy

2006-09-06

http://www.drsears.com/healthnewsdetailopen.member?healthNewsID=4138

 

ARTICLE:

Last Updated: 2006-09-06

15:48:25 -0400 (Reuters Health)

 

By Amy Norton

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When it comes to heart health, virgin

olive oil may have an edge over other vegetable fats, new research

suggests.

 

Reporting in the Annals of Internal Medicine, European researchers

say virgin olive oil may be particularly effective at lowering heart

disease risk because of its high level of antioxidant plant

compounds.

 

In a study of 200 healthy men, the researchers found that virgin

olive oil -- rich in antioxidants called polyphenols -- showed

stronger heart-health effects than the more extensively

processed " non-virgin " variety.

 

The findings suggest that virgin olive oil has more going for it

than its supply of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, according to

the study authors. Polyphenols, they say, may account for some of

the health benefits that have been attributed to the oil.

 

In fact, virgin olive oil is the only vegetable oil that's rich in

polyphenols, Dr. Maria-Isabel Covas, the study's lead researcher,

told Reuters Health.

 

" All vegetable oils other than virgin olive oil are submitted to a

(refining) process in which polyphenols are practically lost, "

explained Covas, a researcher at the Municipal Institute for Medical

Research in Barcelona, Spain.

 

Even " ordinary " olive oil has a lower polyphenol content, she noted,

because it's a mixture of virgin olive oil and a more-processed form

of the oil.

 

For their study, Covas and her colleagues had 200 young and middle-

aged men use each of three olive oils for three weeks apiece. One

oil was a virgin olive oil high in polyphenols; the other two were

more heavily processed varieties with moderate to low polyphenol

levels.

 

The men used the oils in place of other dietary fats.

 

At the end of the study, the researchers found that the men's levels

of " good " HDL cholesterol were highest after their three weeks on

virgin olive oil. They also showed a greater decline in markers of

so-called oxidative stress -- a process that helps deposit particles

of " bad " LDL cholesterol on the artery walls and can lead to a

hardening and narrowing of the vessels supplying the heart.

 

Monounsaturated fat is well known to be a healthier alternative to

the saturated fat found in animal products like butter, Covas noted.

That fact, along with the benefits of polyphenols, she said, make

olive oil " a good source of fat. "

 

But she stopped short of recommending virgin olive oil as a

replacement for other vegetable oils, saying large clinical trials

are needed to see whether there's a health advantage.

 

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, September 5, 2006.

 

 

 

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DR. SEARS' COMMENTS:

 

Besides having the polyphenols, olive oil is poor in omega-6 fatty

acids that are the precursors of inflammatory eicosanoids. Finding

olive oils rich in polyphenols is difficult in the United States

since the really good stuff rarely leaves Italy and the southern

Mediterranean area. The organic extra virgin olive oil sold by Zone

Labs is one of those that has, and this is why every batch is

labeled with the amount of polyphenols.