Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club
EVOO and Health Page 12

Health Benefits of Olives and Olive Oil: Oleuropein Helps the Body Secrete More Insulin

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is excerpted from an article in ScienceDaily, September 12, 2017.

The health benefits of olives—and associated natural products such as olive oil—have long been recognized and touted by proponents of the Mediterranean diet.

However, little was previously known about what specific compounds and biochemical interactions in the fruit contribute to its medical and nutritional benefits such as weight loss and prevention of type 2 diabetes.

A Virginia Tech research team discovered that the olive-derived compound oleuropein helps the body secrete more insulin, a central signaling molecule in the body that controls metabolism. The same compound also detoxifies another signaling molecule called amylin that over-produces and forms harmful aggregates in type 2 diabetes. In these two distinct ways, oleuropein helps prevent the onset of disease.

The findings were recently published in the journal Biochemistry as a Rapid Report, which is reserved for timely topics of unusual interest, according to the journal.

“Our work provides new mechanistic insights into the long-standing question of why olive products can be anti-diabetic,” said Bin Xu, lead author, assistant professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate. “We believe it will not only contribute to the biochemistry of the functions of the olive component oleuropein, but also have an impact on the general public to pay more attention to olive products in light of the current diabetes epidemic.”

The discovery could help improve understanding of the scientific basis of health benefits of olive products and develop new, low-cost nutraceutical strategies to fight type 2 diabetes and related obesity.

Next steps include testing the compound in a diabetic animal model and investigation of additional new functions of this compound, or its components, in metabolism and aging.

Reference: Ling Wu, Paul Velander, Dongmin Liu, Bin Xu. Olive component oleuropein promotes β-cell insulin secretion and protects β-cells from amylin amyloid induced cytotoxicity. Biochemistry 2017; DOI:10.1021/acs.biochem.7b00199.

A More Complete Mediterranean Diet May Protect Against Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from an article in Science Daily, January 10, 2018

In a new study published in the Journal of Urology, researchers determined that men who followed a Mediterranean diet—rich in fish, boiled potatoes, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil, and low consumption of juices—had lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PC) than those who followed other dietary patterns, like Prudent or Western diets.

Although PC is the most common type of cancer in men and can have a high mortality rate, evidence linking PC to specific environmental, occupational, or dietary exposures has been limited. Recent studies have investigated whether certain dietary patterns impact cancer risks, but the results have been inconsistent.

The study’s authors explored the relationship between the risk of having PC and dietary patterns as part of the MCC-Spain study, a Spanish case-control study that involved 733 patients with histologically confirmed PC and 1,229 healthy men with a mean age of 66 years from seven Spanish regions.

Adherence to the three dietary patterns of Western, Prudent, and Mediterranean, which characterize the dietary habits of the Spanish population, was evaluated.

  • The Western pattern includes consumption of large amounts of fatty dairy products, refined grains, processed meat, caloric beverages, sweets, fast food, and sauces.
  • The Prudent pattern involves consumption of low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and juices.
  • The Mediterranean pattern consists of high consumption of fish, boiled potatoes, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil, and low consumption of juices.

The diets were graded according to the degree of adherence to each pattern and assigned to four quartiles from lower to higher adherence within each pattern.

Only a high adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern appeared to be associated with a lower risk of aggressive PC. Prudent and Mediterranean dietary patterns showed different effects in low- and high-grade tumors.

Results indicated that for more aggressive and more extensive tumors, only high adherence to the Mediterranean diet showed a statistically significant protective effect. All other dietary patterns and tumor characteristics showed little or no correlation and did not achieve statistical significance.

Co-author Adela Castelló, PhD, Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Madrid), commented, “If other researchers confirm these results, the promotion of the Mediterranean dietary pattern might be an efficient way of reducing the risk of developing advanced PC, in addition to lowering the risk of other prevalent health problems in men such as cardiovascular disease. Dietary recommendations should take into account whole patterns instead of focusing on individual foods.”

Reference: Adela Castelló, Elena Boldo, Pilar Amiano, Gemma Castaño-Vinyals, Nuria Aragonés, Inés Gómez- Acebo, Rosana Peiró, Jose Juan Jimenez-Moleón, Juan Alguacil, Adonina Tardón, Lluís Cecchini, Virginia Lope, Trinidad Dierssen-Sotos, Lourdes Mengual, Manolis Kogevinas, Marina Pollán, Beatriz Pérez-Gómez. Mediterranean Dietary Pattern Is Associated with Low Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer: MCC-Spain Study.
J Urol 2018;199(2):430. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2017.08.087

Mediterranean Diet Is Linked to Higher Muscle Mass, Bone Density after Menopause

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Reprinted from an article by the Endocrine Society, March 20, 2018.

The heart-healthy Mediterranean diet also appears to be good for an older woman’s bones and muscles, a new study of postmenopausal women in Brazil finds. The study results were presented Monday, March 26, at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society’s 100th annual meeting in Chicago.

The researchers reported finding higher bone mass and muscle mass in postmenopausal women who adhered to a Mediterranean diet than in those who did not. This way of eating involves a high intake of fruits and vegetables, grains, potatoes, olive oil and seeds; moderately high fish intake; low saturated fat, dairy, and red meat consumption; and regular but moderate drinking of red wine. The Mediterranean diet has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and certain other chronic diseases.

Few studies, however, are available about the Mediterranean diet and its effects on body composition after menopause, said the study’s lead investigator, Thais Rasia Silva, Ph.D., a postdoctoral student at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. This information is important, she said, because menopause, with its decline in estrogen, speeds a woman’s loss of bone mass, increasing her risk of the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis and broken bones. In addition, menopause and aging reduce muscle mass. Silva said declines in skeletal muscle mass and strength in older people are major contributors to increased illness, reduced quality of life and higher death rates.

Silva and her co-workers conducted their study in 103 healthy women from southern Brazil, who had an average age of 55 and who had gone through menopause 5.5 years earlier, on average. All women underwent bone scans to measure their bone mineral density, total body fat, and appendicular lean mass, which was used to estimate skeletal muscle mass. The subjects also completed a food questionnaire about what they ate in the past month.

A higher Mediterranean diet score (MDS), meaning better adherence to the Mediterranean diet, was significantly associated with higher bone mineral density measured at the lumbar spine and with greater muscle mass, Silva reported. This association, she said, was independent of whether the women used hormone therapy previously, their prior smoking behavior, or their current level of physical activity, as measured by wearing a pedometer for six days.

“We found that the Mediterranean diet could be a useful nonmedical strategy for the prevention of osteoporosis and fractures in postmenopausal women,” Silva said. Given the many health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, Silva added, “Postmenopausal women, especially those with low bone mass, should ask their doctor whether they might benefit from consuming this dietary pattern.”

Preventive Medicine: Secrets of Olive Oil Explained

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from an article in the New Haven Register by Dr. David Katz, July 1, 2018

In late June 2018, Yale University hosted the Mediterranean Diet Roundtable conference. Among the presentations were two by world-leading experts in the bioactive components of olive oil, Eleni Melliou, PhD, and Prokopios Magiatis, PhD, both from the University of Athens.

Among those many compounds is oleocanthal, a polyphenol and potent antioxidant found in olives. It is established to inhibit COX1 and COX2 enzymes. What does that mean? The first, inhibition of COX1, is what ibuprofen does. The second, inhibition of COX2, is what Celebrex does. So, oleocanthal-rich olive oil (let’s call this “OROO”) has potent anti-inflammatory, and potentially analgesic (pain reducing) properties. What does the research show?

As presented by my colleagues from Athens, a study of OROO in 200 men in Spain showed a linear increase in protective HDL cholesterol, and a decline in LDL cholesterol. In a study of 24 women with hypertension, OROO was found to lower blood pressure, improve endothelial function and lower CRP, an important inflammatory marker. Multiple other studies cited by my Greek colleagues replicated these effects.

OROO has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation as well, the mechanism responsible for acute myocardial infarction. Like ibuprofen, aspirin inhibits COX1, so there is a clear case for the actions of compounds in olive oil to resemble effects seen with these drugs.

Aspirin is used routinely as a cardioprotective agent because it inhibits platelet aggregation.

Oleocanthal derived from olive oil has been shown to induce the clearance of the plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease from the brains of experimental animals. Results of a human trial, announced just last month, showed an improvement in Alzheimer’s symptoms, and delayed progression of the disease, with OROO.

Oleocanthal has also been shown to induce cancer cell death. In an ongoing study of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, OROO daily for three months significantly reduced the numbers of cancerous white blood cells relative to placebo.

Now, let’s put it all in context.

The active compounds in olive oil, like oleocanthal, are highly concentrated in the unripe olives used to make cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil. They are almost completely absent from the ripe olives used to make the lesser varieties of olive oil that often populate the shelves of American supermarkets. Details matter.

The above does not make the case that olive oil, or a Mediterranean diet, is required for good health. But the above certainly does make the case that genuinely good olive oil has genuinely good health effects. No surprise, then, that of the world’s five Blue Zone populations, two have OROO-rich, Mediterranean diets. That, too, is evidence that matters.

I find the weight of evidence regarding extra virgin olive oil, OROO, and oleocanthal extremely compelling. I am fully persuaded that “good” olive oil is a signature contributor to the many benefits of one of the world’s truly great diets.

I am also persuaded, however, again based on the full weight of relevant evidence, that no one food or nutrient accounts for the net effects of the overall diet. The one true toxin I see all too often in the mix—corrosive to consensus, understanding, common ground, and common cause—is cherry-picked science to make the case for any given diet. The pits are concentrated there, so be careful not to swallow that!