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Health Benefits Page 8

Compound in Olive Oil Shows Promise in Fight Against Cancer

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is excerpted from an article by Chris Weller, published February 20, 2015, on MedicalDaily.com, based on the results of a recent study conducted by Rutgers University and Hunter College scientists.

Oleocanthal, the primary phenolic compound found in extra virgin olive oil, has been shown to eradicate cancer cells in less than an hour, giving scientists hope that targeted drug options in the future may be possible.

A team of researchers from Rutgers University and Hunter College published their recent study in the journal Molecular & Cellular Oncology. The findings add even more firepower to the argument in favor of olive oil, which has been shown in prior studies to shield our bodies against air pollution, improve our immune systems, protect aging bones, and perhaps even prevent the slide into Alzheimer’s disease….

The study isn’t without its limits. Cell cultures provide a reliable model for understanding how an external substance affects a new biological environment, but cells aren’t as complex as rats, which aren’t as complex as humans. It will still be years before oleocanthal makes its way into a clinical setting, by which time other technologies may have already crowded it out.

As a proof of concept, however, the findings suggest a robust set of possibilities for the compound. Oleocanthal is just one of the many phenols — a type of antioxidant — that appears in extra-virgin olive oil. It’s no accident the stuff appears in so many of the world’s healthiest diets. In addition to the heart-healthy antioxidants, olive oil provides a rich source of healthy fats that may preserve brain health and improve memory.

“We think oleocanthal could explain reduced [cancer] incidence in Mediterranean diets where consumption is high,” Foster told Medical Daily in an email. “And it is also possible that purified (higher-dose) could possibly be used therapeutically.”

Ultimately, the co-authors want to learn more about why oleocanthal targets and shrinks cancer cells specifically. “We also need to understand why it is that cancerous cells are more sensitive to oleocanthal than non-cancerous cells,” Foster said in the release. Even if consuming more olive oil won’t necessarily protect you from cancer today, budding research may help bring [some of its compounds] into the hospital in the future.

Source: LeGendre O, Breslin PAS, Foster DA. Oleocanthal rapidly and selectively induces cancer cell death via lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). Molecular & Cellular Oncology. January 23, 2015. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23723556.2015.1006077

Mediterranean Diet Plus Olive Oil or Nuts May Boost Thinking and Memory

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

The following is excerpted from an article published on the website of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 11, 2015.

Adding more olive oil or nuts to a Mediterranean diet—one rich in fruits, vegetables, fi sh, and whole grains and low in red meat—may help keep your mind sharper as you age, a new study suggests.

The Spanish researchers found that seniors following such diets had greater improvements in thinking and memory than people who were simply advised to eat a lower-fat diet.

“You can delay the onset of age-related mental decline with a healthy diet rich in foods with a high antioxidant power, such as virgin olive oil and nuts,” said lead researcher Dr. Emilio Ros, director of the lipid clinic at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona.

“Because the average age of participants was 67 when the trial began, one can say that it is never too late to change your diet to maintain or even improve brain function,” he said.

The report was published online May 11 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Dr. Sam Gandy, director of the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said, “The general heart-healthy and brain-healthy effects of eating less beef and more chicken, fi sh, fruits and vegetables [have] been validated to the point that I now recommend this general Mediterranean diet to all my patients.”

…. Participants were randomly assigned to add a liter (about 33 ounces) of extra virgin olive oil per week to their Mediterranean diet, or to supplement their Mediterranean diet with 30 grams (roughly 1 ounce) per day of a mixture of walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds. Others followed a low-fat diet…. The participants followed the diets for four years, on average, according to the study.

In both groups following a Mediterranean diet, the researchers saw improvements in tests of memory and thinking compared to the group on the low-fat diet, the study showed.

Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center in New York City, explained that “healthy fats from foods like nuts and olive oil play crucial roles in brain function and health.”

Every one of the nerve cells in the human brain is surrounded by an ultra-thin layer of fat and protein called the myelin sheath, she explained. The myelin sheath protects the nerve structure and helps nerve cell interaction. The brain gets its fats to make and maintain the myelin sheath from the foods people eat. The healthier the foods and fats, the healthier the brain, Heller said.

SOURCES: Emilio Ros, M.D., Ph.D., director, lipid clinic, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain; Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., director, Center for Cognitive Health, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., senior clinical nutritionist, New York University Medical Center, New York City; Valls-Pedret C, Sala-Vila A, Ros E, et al. Mediterranean diet and agerelated cognitive decline. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.1668. [Epub ahead of print]

Mediterranean Diet May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

 The following is excerpted from an article by Sara G. Miller that appeared in LiveScience on September 14, 2015.

The Mediterranean diet may be able to add “reduces risk of breast cancer” to its long list of health benefits, according to a new study from Spain.

In the study, researchers found that women who were asked to follow a Mediterranean diet that was high in extra-virgin olive oil were 68 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who were advised only to reduce the amount of fat in their diets.

In the study, 4,152 post-menopausal women who had never had breast cancer were asked to follow one of three diets: One was a Mediterranean diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil (extra-virgin olive oil accounted for 15 percent of their daily calories), the second was a Mediterranean diet rich in nuts, and the third was a control diet, in which the women were advised to reduce the amount of fat they ate.

After about five years, 35 women in the study had developed breast cancer. Women in the extra-virgin olive oil group were the least likely to develop breast cancer. The researchers also observed a slight decrease in risk for the women in the nut group, but this was not statistically significant (meaning it could have been due to chance), according to the study published today (Sept. 14) in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The Mediterranean diet contains many components that have been suggested to have antitumor effects, Dr. Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Navarra in Spain and coauthor of the study, told Live Science in an email.

Extra-virgin olive oil in particular is rich in compounds called polyphenols, which have been shown in lab studies to have anti-cancer effects, he said. Indeed, the study found that the greater the percentage of calories that came from extra-virgin olive oil in the women’s diets, the lower their risk of developing breast cancer, Martinez- Gonzalez told Live Science. “For every additional 5 percent of calories from extra-virgin olive oil, the risk was reduced [by] 28 percent,” he said.

However, the researchers do not know if the lower risk may have been lowered due to the extra-virgin olive oil on its own, or if it was the effect of oil working in combination with the rest of the diet, he said.

….Previous studies have also shown a reduced risk of breast cancer in women who eat a Mediterranean diet, Martinez-Gonzalez said.

A strength of the new study is that unlike those previous studies, in which women were asked to report what foods they ate, women in the new study were randomized to a specific diet, which eliminates certain factors that can influence the results, Dr. Mitchell Katz, a deputy editor of JAMA and the author of an editorial about the study, told Live Science.

The study did have limitations, including the small number of cases of breast cancer, and that all of the participants were white, post-menopausal women who were at risk of heart disease, Katz wrote in his editorial.

….Still, he encouraged women to try out the diet: “Although no diet is perfect, a Mediterranean diet [rich in] olive oil is likely good for your health,” Katz said.

Martinez-Gonzalez agreed. Women should be encouraged to eat more extra-virgin olive oil, salads with fresh vegetables and have fruit for dessert, he said.

Even Fried Food Has Nutritional Value When Cooked in Olive Oil

Posted on 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.