Mediterranean diet may help reduce health risk

UB researchers also participated in a study —published in the former journal— coordinated by Jordi Salas Salvadó, professor at URV. This study proves that extra virgin olive oil may help reduce the risk of heart disease in those at high risk.

The research headed by Dr Lamuela is part of the PhD thesis developed by Anna Tresserra, who analysed again the results of the study PREDIMED, carried out in participants at high cardiovascular risk, aged 55 to 80 years. The results of this reanalysis found that those with a high total phenol intake had a significant reduction in mortality, not just cardiovascular disease. It was also found that certain polyphenols are strongly associated with mortality protective effects, specifically stilbenes and lignans. Stilbenes are found in grape skins and concentrated in red wine, and olives, virgin olive oil, flax seed, sesame seed, and whole grains contain high levels of lignans.

“In many of these previously studied populations, intake of any one polyphenol-rich food was not great enough to reduce mortality, but in our study total polyphenol intake was a wider range, coming from several food sources”, explains Rosa M. Lamuela, who also researches at the CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn). “Evidence from our study and previous studies —Lamuela adds— support the hypothesis that greater polyphenol intake and the many polyphenol subclasses this represents, serves to extend the life span through many different factors”.

Olive oil and cardiovascular diseases

The other study in which UB researchers participated is focused on the effects of olive oil. Many studies have looked into the association between olive oil consumption and risk of heart disease. But very little has focused on the different types of olive oil. Research conducted as part of PREDIMED trial has found that a 10g per day increase in extra virgin olive oil consumption is linked with a 10% reduction in risk of heart disease and cardiovascular death. “Extra virgin olive oil has higher quality than common olive oil, it has slightly higher acidity and higher amount of polyphenols. It is thought these polyphenols provide cardiovascular benefits.

“Although it is difficult to isolate the effect of a single food because a range of foods are consumed in the whole Mediterranean diet, our study was able to distinguish the cardiovascular effects attributed to olive oil, a food that it is clearly a key component of this diet”, explains Jordi Salas Salvadó, coordinator of the study, director of the Human Nutrition Unit at URV and researcher at CIBERobn.

PREDIMED is a multicenter nutrition intervention study that evaluates the effect of the Mediterranean diet on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in more than 7,000 older people aged 55 to 80 years over a median of five years. Participants are randomized in three groups: a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts, and a control group following a low fat diet.

“PREDIMED was carried out in an elderly population at high cardiovascular risk, further work needs to be done to see if the benefits of Mediterranean diet can be generalized to other populations”, concludes Jordi Salas Salvadó.