A new diet discovered against cardiovascular disease and Diabetes Type 2 prevention.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet and has been proven to account for the protective effect against cardiovascular disease and diabetes (DB). However, the underlying mechanism is still elusive says F Voli, of department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University of Rome.
Before the findings, so many articles and journals have written on how difficult it is to manage Type 2 diabetes.

One of such by Jennie C ‘Postprandial glycemia, glycemic index, and the prevention of type 2 diabetes’, I found interesting. The author further re confirms the challenges of preventing DB Type 2 and speaks. He says ‘Prevention of type 2 diabetes is one of the biggest challenges facing public health in the 21st century. Various Studies such as the Diabetes Prevention Program have shown that intensive diet and exercise programs are not only highly effective in delaying or preventing the disease but are cheaper than even the cheapest drug.’ The author do not know of any superior diet that can prevent DB Type 2 and he asks rhetorically; ‘are there superior dietary approaches that can prevent most cases of type 2 diabetes?

The good news is that a new study by Voli tested the effect of EVOO when added to Mediterranean-type meal, on post-prandial glycemic and lipid profile.



The author investigates Post-prandial glycemic and lipid profile in 25 healthy patients;12 male and 13 females for a period of two month; who were randomly allocated in a cross-over design to a Mediterranean-type meal added with or without 10 g EVOO (first study), or Mediterranean-type meal with EVOO (10 g) or corn oil (10 g; second study). Mediterranean diet is characterized by high intake of fruits, vegetables, cereals, fish and moderate wine consumption, with scarce intake of dairy products and red meat. Most importantly, the health benefits of Mediterranean diet have been attributed to the high intake of monounsaturated fat, mostly represented by extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). The result of the following were analyzed before the meal and 2hours after the meal: (Glycemic profile, which included glucose, insulin, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 (DPP-4) protein and activity, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and lipid profile, which included, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (LDL-C), oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL-C))

The results clearly show in the first study, 2 hours after meal that subjects who assumed a meal with EVOO had significantly lower blood glucose and activity, and higher insulin, compared with those without EVOO; when compared with corn oil, EVOO improved both glycemic and lipid profile. Thus, a significantly smaller increase of glucose, protein and activity and higher increase of insulin and GLP-1 (P<0.001) were observed. Furthermore, when compared with corn oil, EVOO showed a significantly less increase of LDL-C (P<0.05) and ox-LDL (P<0.001).



The author says ‘for the first time that EVOO improves post-prandial glucose and LDL-C, an effect that may account for the antiatherosclerotic effect of the Mediterranean diet’. Thus, results from the study show that EVOO when added to the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular events compared with controls.