A team of researchers from the University of Florida and the US Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases took a closer look at the health benefits of a plant-based diet in individuals at risk of atherosclerosis.
The recent push for a vegan diet and eating like you live in the Mediterranean has touted the benefits of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as a means of lowering “bad” cholesterol.
The Mediterranean diet is rich in animal fats, and with the addition of the often-recommended amount of olive oil, fat intake can account for almost half of the body’s energy intake.
Studies have shown conflicting results about the benefits of various components of the Mediterranean diet, and there is little evidence that olive oil, combined with a low-fat, whole plant-based diet, really benefits people with heart disease risk factors.
To investigate this, researchers recruited 40 adults aged 18 to 79 who followed a carefully designed vegan diet for eight weeks: four weeks on a diet with four extra teaspoons of olive oil per day and four weeks on a low-olive-oil diet, with a week off in between. diets.
Both low- and high-olive oil diets improved cardiometabolic profiles (measures of cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammation) compared to pre-diet levels.
Interestingly, the order of the diets had an effect on changes in cholesterol levels from baseline at the very beginning of the study.
Starting the diet with a relatively high amount of olive oil and then switching to meals with little or no olive oil reduced the volunteers’ low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol levels.
On the other hand, increasing oil intake after weeks of little or no oil consumption seemed to interfere with lowering LDL.
The team believes that the small amount of saturated fat found in extra virgin olive oil may affect the processing of LDL in the liver, leading to an increase in it in the blood, which can increase the risk of stroke and heart attack.
“Lower intakes of extra virgin olive oil may lower lipid levels more than relatively higher intakes,” the researchers write in their published paper.
Notably, all study participants were classified as borderline or high risk for atherosclerosis, which can develop from too much LDL cholesterol clogging arteries.
“Identifying optimal sources of dietary fat, and especially extra virgin olive oil, for reducing risk in a vegan diet model may vary depending on dietary context and level of risk,” the researchers wrote.
The study is published žurnale „Journal of the American Heart Association“.
Parengta pagal „Science Alert“.
2024-08-16 16:26:40