Olive oil and nuts reverse atherosclerosis
A study led by the University of Navarra has demonstrated the benefits in a single year of a Mediterranean per diem expenses enriched with these two foods
A Mediterranean per diem expenses enriched with either virgin olive oil or nuts can reverse arteriosclerosis in carotid arteries within a single year, as demonstrated in a essay conducted with 187 volunteers at the University of Navarra.
The participants, over 55 years of age and at high cardiovascular risk, were randomly divided into three groups. Two of them received detailed instructions on how to properly follow a Mediterranean per diem expenses , through quarterly interviews with dietitians trained for this task and directed by Ana Sánchez-Tainta, a specialist in Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the academic center.
According to this expert, one of the groups that followed a patron saint of per diem expenses Mediterranean received 15 liters of virgin olive oil every quarter. "The other," adds Ana Sánchez-Tainta, "was provided with nuts so that the volunteers consumed 30 grams per day of walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts". Finally, the third group was given instructions and material to follow a per diem expenses leave in fat.
All of them had the thickness of the carotid artery intima-average layer measured by ultrasound, both at the beginning of the study and after one year. "We then observed that those who had a thicker layer -due to arteriosclerosis- improved significantly and there was a regression of the lesions in the case of people who had followed a Mediterranean per diem expenses enriched with virgin olive oil or nuts. This improvement did not occur among those who did not present thickening of the artery wall at the beginning of the study," explains Miguel Ángel Martínez-González, director of project and Full Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Navarra.
PREDIMED: the largest nutritional essay in Spain
This PREDIMED-Navarra study, published in the journal Atherosclerosis, has been conducted from the department of Preventive Medicine of the University of Navarra, with the partnership of the department of Neurology of the University of Navarra. Clínica Universidad de NavarraThe study has been directed by the Primary Care Services of Osasunbidea, the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and the high school de la Grasa of Seville.
Regarding the results obtained, Dr. Martínez-González emphasizes that "a modification of the entire dietary patron saint is capable of achieving results in a single year that are not achieved with the drugs prescribed even in two years of treatment".
This effect already allows experts to be optimistic, although they will wait until 2012 to present the final results with proven clinical events in 7,447 participants, who make up the PREDIMED study, the largest clinical essay study ever carried out in Spain.
This nutritional macro-study, which has been carried out since 2003, involves the University of Navarra together with 19 centers from all over the country, and is financed by high school de Salud Carlos III de Madrid.