Health Benefits Archives - Page 8 of 10

Even Fried Food Has Nutritional Value When Cooked in Olive Oil

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is excerpted from an article by Yvette Brazier that appeared in Medical News Today on January 25, 2016.

Frying in extra virgin olive oil is healthier than other cooking methods, according to research published in Food Chemistry.

Numerous studies have extolled the virtues of the Mediterranean diet. There is evidence that it leads to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, improves gut health, slows the process of brain aging, and reduces the risk of various chronic, degenerative conditions. The Spanish Mediterranean diet features a high volume of vegetables and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), both of which are good sources of phenols, the antioxidant effect of which is believed to contribute to the reduction of health risks.

Concentrations of antioxidants can be either increased or decreased, depending on how the food is processed.

Researchers from the University of Granada in Spain wanted to compare cooking methods to find out which one would give the best antioxidant capacity, and maximize the amount of phenolic compounds provided by vegetables used in the Mediterranean diet, including potato, pumpkin, tomato and eggplant.

Phenols transfer from olive oil to vegetables during frying

Under controlled conditions, the team cooked 120 g of potato, pumpkin, tomato and eggplant without seeds or skin. They compared three methods: frying, boiling, and cooking with a mixture of EVOO and water. The ratio of vegetable to water followed traditional Spanish cooking methods.

They also used high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to measure the levels of phenolic compound in each vegetable.

Frying in EVOO was found to increase fat content and reduce moisture; other methods did not have this effect. Cooking in oil increased the levels of phenolic compounds, but cooking in water did not. This is thought to be due to phenols being transferred from the EVOO to the vegetables, adding to the vegetables some beneficial compounds not normally found there.

Results showed that frying in EVOO is the most effective way to increase the antioxidant capacity and levels of phenolic compounds in raw potato, pumpkin, tomato, and eggplant. In other words, the cooking process improves the quality of the raw foods.

All three methods led to a higher level of antioxidant capacity in all the vegetables. The final levels of phenols, moisture, fat, dry matter, and antioxidant activity of each vegetable varied according to the composition of the original vegetable and the cooking method.

Any raw vegetable that started with a high level of phenols had its phenolic content boosted further by the use of EVOO in cooking, suggesting that frying and sautéing should be used not only to conserve the goodness, but also to enhance it.

Reference: Ramírez-Anaya JP, Samaniego-Sánchez C, Castañeda-Saucedo MC, Villalón-Mir M, de la Serrana HL. Phenols and the antioxidant capacity of Mediterranean vegetables prepared with extra virgin olive oil using different domestic cooking techniques. Food Chem. 2015;188:430-8.

After-Meal Blood Glucose Spikes? Try Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is reprinted from an article on the American Diabetes Association website, summarizing a study published in the April 2016 issue of Diabetes Care.

What is the problem and what is known about it so far? The glycemic index, or GI, measures how much a carbohydrate-containing food raises blood glucose levels. A food with a high GI raises blood glucose more than a food with a medium or low GI. Researchers have discovered that certain types of fat affect blood glucose differently when you eat a high-GI meal.

Why did the researchers do this particular study? The researchers wanted to determine how the type of fat (or the lack of fat) eaten affects glucose levels after both a high-GI and low-GI meal.

Who was studied? A total of 13 patients with type 1 diabetes (8 women and 5 men) were recruited from the diabetes care unit of the University of Naples Federico II hospital in Naples, Italy.

How was the study done? Study participants consumed three high-GI meals in one week and then switched to three low-GI meals for an additional week. The meals had similar total carbohydrate content but were different in the amount and type of fat eaten. Meals were broken down as follows: 1) low in fat, 2) high in saturated fat (butter), and 3) high in monounsaturated fat (extra virgin olive oil). Participants’ blood glucose levels were measured continuously throughout the study weeks.

What did the researchers find? When patients ate a low-GI meal, the quality and the amount of fat did not significantly affect blood glucose levels after the meal. But when patients ate a high-GI meal, there was a rise in glucose levels soon after eating the meals with butter or low in fat. However, after the meal with extra virgin olive oil, there was no steep rise in blood glucose levels.

What were the limitations of the study? The meals were eaten at home, so the patients were not being directly monitored on what they were eating. This lack of oversight may have affected the reliability of the results. What are the implications of the study? This study shows for the fi rst time that the type of fat eaten significantly affects blood glucose levels after a high-GI meal in patients with type 1 diabetes. Avoiding foods rich in butter and using extra virgin olive oil could help improve your postprandial (after-a-meal) blood glucose levels.

Reference: Bozzetto L, Alderisio A, Giorgini M, et al. Extra-virgin olive oil reduces glycemic response to a high–glycemic index meal in patients with type 1 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Care. 2016;39(4):518–524.

Mediterranean diet may help stop breast cancer coming back, study says

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is excerpted from an article by Sarah Bosley that appeared in the Guardian on June 5, 2016.

Eating a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil, may help prevent breast cancer returning, according to a study presented at a major international cancer conference.

Lifestyle—whether people are physically active or not—and being overweight are known risk factors for breast cancer, but there is increasing interest in whether particular eating habits play a part in its occurrence and recurrence.

The study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago is a trial in Italy that compared the outcomes for 307 women who had been treated for early breast cancer. One group of 199 women were asked to eat a Mediterranean diet, involving four portions of vegetables, three pieces of fruit and one serving of grains a day, together with four or more servings of fi sh each week, some red and processed meat and plenty of olive oil. They were allowed up to one alcoholic drink a day.

The other group of 108 women were asked to eat their normal diet, but given advice on healthy food by a dietician.

The cancer researchers at Piacenza hospital, Italy, found that after three years, 11 women from the group eating a normal diet suffered a return of their breast cancer, while none of those eating a Mediterranean diet did.

Experts say the study is small and has limitations, but raises issues of great interest. “The whole topic of lifestyle interventions for breast cancer survivors is a very important one. There is substantial research going on into what we should be recommending,” said Dr. Erica Mayer, an ASCO expert in breast cancer, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and director of clinical research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US.

But the results of studies to date have been conflicting. “It is not clear whether there is a specific diet or foods to eat or not to eat to prevent recurrence,” she said. Physical activity, on the other hand, is very beneficial, helping to prevent cancer both occurring and recurring.

The signals so far from research into women’s eating habits and breast cancer “probably reflect weight loss rather than diet,” she said. On this particular study there were issues with the methodology. “They don’t say if this is randomized. People were asked to participate in one diet or the other. There is no information about the activity level or change in weight, which for most of the lifestyle research one needs to be aware of,” she said.

Lady Delyth Morgan, the chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: “This study adds to increasingly interesting discussions about how lifestyle factors might influence breast cancer recurrence.

“We need to see results from longer-term studies before we can give specific diet advice to breast cancer patients. In the meantime we do know that a varied, balanced diet for general health and well-being, as well as being physically active, can be beneficial to breast cancer patients.”

Reference: Biasini C, Di Nunzio C, Cordani MR, et al. Effect of Mediterranean diet on the prevalence of breast cancer relapse: preliminary results of the “SETA PROJECT.” Ann Oncol. 2015;26(suppl 6):vi4; doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdv336.05. Presented at 17th National Congress of Medical Oncology, October 23–25, 2015, Rome, Italy. http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/suppl_6/vi4.2

Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Risk of Death in Cardiovascular Disease Patients

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is adapted from an abstract presented to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress, Rome, Italy, August 28, 2016.

“The Mediterranean diet is widely recognized as one of the healthier nutrition habits in the world,” said Professor Giovanni de Gaetano, head of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed Institute in Pozzilli, Italy. “In fact, many scientific studies have shown that a traditional Mediterranean lifestyle is associated with a lower risk of various chronic diseases and, more importantly, of death from any cause.”

“But so far research has focused on the general population, which is mainly composed of healthy people,” he added. “What happens to people who have already suffered from cardiovascular disease? Is the Mediterranean diet optimal for them too?”

The answer is yes, according to a study in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease and stroke. The patients were among the participants enrolled into the Moli-sani project, a prospective epidemiological study that randomly recruited around 25,000 adults living in the Italian region of Molise.1

“Among the participants, we identified 1197 people who reported a history of cardiovascular disease at the time of enrolment into Moli-sani,” said Dr. Marialaura Bonaccio, lead author of the research.

Participants’ food intake was recorded using the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) food frequency questionnaire. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was appraised with a 9-point Mediterranean diet score (MDS). All-cause death was assessed by linkage with data from the office of vital statistics in Molise.

During a median follow-up of 7.3 years there were 208 deaths. A 2-point increase in the MDS was associated with a 21% reduced risk of death after controlling for age, sex, energy intake, egg and potato intake, education, leisure-time physical activity, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and cancer at the start of the study.

When considered in three categories (high, moderate, or low MDS), the top category (score 6–9) of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with 37% lower risk of death compared to the bottom category (0–3). Professor de Gaetano said: “We found that among those with a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet, death from any cause was reduced by 37% in comparison to those who poorly adhered to this dietary regime.”

The researchers deepened their investigation by looking at the role played by individual foods that make up Mediterranean diet. “The major contributors to mortality risk reduction were a higher consumption of vegetables, fish, fruits, nuts, and monounsaturated fatty acids—that means olive oil,” said Dr. Bonaccio.

Professor de Gaetano concluded: “These results prompt us to investigate the mechanism(s) through which the Mediterranean diet may protect against death. This was an observational study so we cannot say that the effect is causal. We expect that dietary effects on [factors] such as inflammation might result in the reduction of mortality from any cause but further research is needed.”

¹The Moli-sani project: Started in March 2005, it involves about 25,000 citizens living in the Molise region of Italy. The aim is to learn about environmental and genetic factors underlying cardiovascular disease, cancer, and degenerative disorders. The study has transformed an entire Italian region into a large research lab.