EVOO and Health Archives - Page 3 of 11

Healthy habits are key to maintaining health even while taking multiple prescriptions

Posted on December 22, 2020December 22, 2020 by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from an article in Science Codex, November 9, 2020

Lifestyle habits including adherence to the Mediterranean diet, getting regular exercise, and not smoking can reduce the risk of death, even for people taking multiple medications, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2020. The meeting, held virtually, Friday, November 13 – Tuesday, November 17, 2020, was a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science for health care worldwide.

“We’ve long known about the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. The results from our study underscore the importance of each person’s ability to improve their health through lifestyle changes even if they are dealing with multiple health issues and taking multiple prescription medications,” said lead author Neil Kelly, Ph.D., a medical student at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University in New York City.

The study analyzed data from more than 20,000 participants of the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study (average age of 64; 56% women). At the start of the study, 17% were taking 10 or more prescription medications, 39% were taking five to nine prescription medicines, and 44% of participants were taking four or fewer prescription medications.

Researchers evaluated the number of medications taken, level of participation in four healthy behaviors and all-cause death rates. The types of medications and the conditions they were used to treat (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cognitive impairment, etc.), varied widely among study participants. The healthy lifestyle behaviors were physical activity; smoking abstinence; low sedentary time; and following a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, and moderation for dairy products and wine.

At follow-up roughly 10 years later, the analysis found that a healthy lifestyle decreased the risk of death regardless of the number of medications a person was taking; and the higher the number of healthy lifestyle habits a person had, the lower their risk of death.

“It’s especially important for health care professionals to counsel patients and develop interventions that can maximize healthy lifestyle behaviors, even among patients with several prescription medications,” Kelly added. “It’s important for the public to understand that there is never a bad time to adopt healthy behaviors. These can range from eating a healthier diet to taking a daily walk in their neighborhood. A healthier lifestyle buys more time.”

Reference: Presentation P929, American Heart Association Virtual Scientific Sessions 2020, November 13 -17, 2020.

Replacing Unhealthy Fats with Olive Oil Is a Heart-Healthy Choice

Posted on September 4, 2020September 18, 2020 by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from an article in Duke Medicine Health News, September 2020, Vol. 6, No. 9

Go ahead. Dip that crusty Italian bread in a saucer of seasoned olive oil and take a big, guilt-free bite. Research shows that consuming more olive oil is associated with less risk of heart attack among Americans, especially when it replaces butter, mayonnaise, or margarine. A study performed at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, showed that replacing 1 teaspoon of butter, margarine, mayonnaise, or dairy fat with the same amount of olive oil lowered the risk of any cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 5 percent and lowered the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by 7 percent. People who consumed even higher amounts of olive oil—half a tablespoon daily—had a 15 percent lower risk of any kind of CVD and a 21 percent lower risk of CHD.

This study took place between 1990 and 2014 and included 63,867 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 35,512 men from the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study. All participants were free of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases at the start of the study. Every four years for about three decades, study participants answered questionnaires about their diet and lifestyle. Participants were asked how often, on average, they had consumed specific foods, as well as types of fats, oils, and brand or type of oils used for cooking and added at the table in the preceding year. Total olive oil intake was calculated from the sum of three questionnaire questions related to olive oil intake: olive oil salad dressing, olive oil added to food or bread, and olive oil used for baking and frying at home.

Among the researchers’ noteworthy observations were: Olive oil can have favorable effects on endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, inflammation, insulin sensitivity, and diabetes. Previous studies have shown that olive oil—especially the virgin grade—that is richer in polyphenolic compounds is associated with lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers and a better lipid profile; and despite olive oil being a high-fat food, it has not been associated with weight gain.

The researchers stress the importance of substituting olive oil for other fats. The main thing is to replace unhealthy fats with olive oil, and that can improve cholesterol, reduce inflammatory biomarkers, and improve cardiovascular health. The results echo a 2013 study that found that people who followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil for five years had a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack or stroke. They also showed a slower rate of cognitive decline and were better able to control their weight.

Reference: Guasch-Ferré M, Liu G, Li Y, et al. Olive oil consumption and cardiovascular risk in US adults. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;75(15):1729-1739.

How to (O)live Longer

Posted on June 16, 2020September 22, 2021 by The Olive Oil Hunter

Some olive oils fight heart disease and cognitive decline. But to get the greatest benefit, you need to pick the right stuff

Reprinted from an article in AARP Bulletin by Clint Carter, April 2020

In normal times, Italians outlive Americans by an average of four years. But in the Sicani Mountain region of Sicily, marked by rolling hills covered with olive trees, the locals live past 100 at a rate more than four times greater than Italy as a whole.

Sicani Mountain villagers eat a Mediterranean diet, snacking on olives and using the fruit’s oil to prepare dinner. As a result, their arteries are as supple as those of people 10 years younger, researchers say.

“We’ve known for 50 or 60 years that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial for health, but olive oil is emerging as the most important ingredient,” says Domenico Praticò, MD, director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple University. Among people in olive-growing regions, the incidences of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and even cognitive decline are very low.

How Olive Oil Offers Hope

Praticò and others have been exploring the effect of extra-virgin olive oil, or EVOO, on the brain. They’ve discovered that compounds in the fat of this high-grade oil can flush out proteins that gum up the communication channels between brain cells. That might delay, and even possibly reverse, Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

One compound that seems to drive this effect is an olive-derived polyphenol called oleocanthal. In animal studies at Auburn University, oleocanthal demonstrated an ability to “rinse out” amyloids, which form the plaques associated with Alzheimer’s. In mice EVOO can “flush out” tau, a protein that hinders language skills and memory in humans.

Buyer, Beware!

But not all the EVOO sold at the supermarket is as potent as the oil that researchers use to “flush out” neurotoxins. In lab tests more than half of imported EVOO purchased at retail failed to meet standards of quality and flavor (a marker of antioxidant content) established by the Madrid-based International Olive Council. In a 2015 analysis from the National Consumers League, 6 in 11 EVOOs obtained from reputable stores such as Safeway and Whole Foods failed the extra virgin test. They were either mislabeled or had degraded during shipping and storage. So what does all this mean? You need to know a few shopping tricks if you want to get all the protection that EVOO offers to the centenarians of the Sicani Mountains.

Study shows extra virgin olive oil staves off multiple forms of dementia in mice

Posted on March 16, 2020September 22, 2021 by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from an article in Science Codex by the Temple University Health System, November 25, 2019

Boosting brain function is key to staving off the effects of aging. And if there was one thing every person should consider doing right now to keep their brain young, it is to add extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to their diet, according to research by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM).

Previous LKSOM research on mice showed that EVOO preserves memory and protects the brain against Alzheimer’s disease.

In a new study in mice published online in the journal Aging Cell, LKSOM scientists show that yet another group of aging-related diseases can be added to that list—tauopathies, which are characterized by the gradual buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau in the brain. This process leads to a decline in mental function, or dementia. The findings are the first to suggest that EVOO can defend against a specific type of mental decline linked to tauopathy known as frontotemporal dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is itself one form of dementia. It primarily affects the hippocampus—the memory storage center in the brain. Frontotemporal dementia affects the areas of the brain near the forehead and ears. Symptoms typically emerge between ages 40 and 65 and include changes in personality and behavior, difficulties with language and writing, and eventual deterioration of memory and ability to learn from prior experience.

Senior investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, describes the new work as supplying another piece in the story about EVOO’s ability to ward off cognitive decline and to protect the junctions where neurons come together to exchange information, which are known as synapses.

“The realization that EVOO can protect the brain against different forms of dementia gives us an opportunity to learn more about the mechanisms through which it acts to support brain health,” he said.

In previous work using a mouse model, in which animals were destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Praticò’s team showed that EVOO supplied in the diet protected young mice from memory and learning impairment as they aged. Most notably, when the researchers looked at brain tissue from mice fed EVOO,

they did not see features typical of cognitive decline, particularly amyloid plaques—sticky proteins that impair communication pathways between neurons in the brain. Rather, the animals’ brains looked normal.

The team’s new study shows that the same is true in the case of mice engineered to develop tauopathy. In these mice, normal tau protein turns defective and accumulates in the brain, forming harmful tau deposits, also called tangles. Tau deposits, similar to amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease, block neuron communication and thereby impair thinking and memory, resulting in frontotemporal dementia.

Tau mice were put on a diet supplemented with EVOO at a young age, comparable to about age 30 or 40 in humans. Six months later, when mice were the equivalent of age 60 in humans, tauopathy-prone animals

experienced a 60 percent reduction in damaging tau deposits, compared to littermates that were not fed EVOO. Animals on the EVOO diet also performed better on memory and learning tests than animals deprived of EVOO.

Dr. Praticò and colleagues now plan to explore what happens when EVOO is fed to older animals that have begun to develop tau deposits and signs of cognitive decline, which more closely reflects the clinical scenario in humans.

Reference: Lauretti E, Nenov M, Dincer O, Iuliano L, Praticò D. Extra virgin olive oil improves synaptic activity, short-term elasticity, memory, and neuropathology in a tauopathy model. Aging Cell. 2020;19(1):e13076.