Perhaps you have read a lot about the Mediterranean Diet; but today I would like to share with you a piece of news that I have read on this very important topic: "The Mediterranean Diet rich in olive oil improves good cholesterol".
A study, led by researchers at the Institute of Marine Medical Research (IMIM), has shown that following a Mediterranean diet, rich in virgin olive oil, improves the functions of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), the so-called "good cholesterol".
Institute of Marine Medical Research
The research, published in the journal Circulation, shows for the first time the therapeutic potential of a dietary pattern, such as the traditional Mediterranean diet, on the cardioprotective functions of the "good cholesterol".
The main function of HDLs is to take care of removing excess cholesterol from the arteries and transporting it to the liver for excretion. Until now, the benefits of the "good cholesterol" function had only been demonstrated in some clinical trials with drugs, surgical interventions or interventions based on increasing the consumption of isolated foods; but it had never been studied what would happen if the diet was completely modified.
"We compared two types of Mediterranean diet, one rich in olive oil and the other rich in nuts, for a low-fat diet, and we saw that adherence to a traditional Mediterranean diet, especially when rich in olive oil, was associated to improving the functions of HDL", explained Montse Fitó, coordinator of the Research Group on Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition of IMIM.
Fitó, who is also a researcher at the Center for Biomedical Research in the Network of Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), has recalled that recently many researchers have pointed out that the biological functions of HDLs are those that would contribute to explain their cardioprotective role and not both the levels of "good cholesterol", that you have.
This hypothesis would explain why people, who develop cardiovascular disease, have worse HDLs. Thus, according to the coordinator of the study, inducing an improvement in the function of HDLs could be a way to decrease the risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases.
To carry out this work, the researchers randomly selected a subsample of 296 volunteers from the PREDIMED (Mediterranean Dietary Prevention) Study, the first clinical trial with Mediterranean diet recommendations, in a population with a high cardiovascular risk.
The research team, coordinated by Fitó, who participated, from the beginning, in the PREDIMED project, isolated the lipoproteins from the blood samples, obtained before beginning the intervention and after one year of monitoring the Mediterranean diet.
In these samples, they studied the main functions attributed to the HDL lipoproteins, such as the ability of these particles to remove cholesterol, from the arterial wall, to act as antioxidants, or to promote relaxation of blood vessels, just like the role of the HDLs, on other cholesterol metabolism points and changes in their composition and size.
This study has attracted the attention of the American Heart Association, the most important body in the world on cardiovascular health, since until now a study of these characteristics had not been done, with such a large sample and keeping track of a whole year.
According to Álvaro Hernáez, who is also a researcher at the IMIM's Cardiovascular and Nutrition Risk Research Group, "this work opens up a wide range of possibilities, since it allows us to know another physiological process, that the Mediterranean diet is capable of improving, in addition to contributing to the discovery of New therapeutic targets, to improve the functions of the HDL".
Well, I hope these researchers follow discovering another ways to fight other diseases.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
Sponsored by Costaluz Lawyers.
Please click below:
