`Adding 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil Can Improve Blood Vessel Function - Olive Oil Times
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Health

Adding 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil Can Improve Blood Vessel Function

By Elena Paravantes
Aug. 24, 2012 08:57 UTC
Summary Summary

Adding just two table­spoons of olive oil each day can improve blood ves­sel func­tion, as shown in a study by U.S. and Italian researchers. The study found that sup­ple­men­ta­tion with olive oil is an easy and rel­a­tively inex­pen­sive way to improve endothe­lial func­tion and poten­tially alter the pro­gres­sion of ath­er­o­scle­rotic dis­ease.

Vuk Nikolić

Adding just two table­spoons of olive oil each day can improve blood ves­sel func­tion.

The addi­tion of a small amount of olive oil to the diet appears to improve endothe­lial func­tion accord­ing to a new study by U.S. and Italian researchers

The endothe­lium is a group of cells that line the inte­rior of blood ves­sels. When these cells are not func­tion­ing prop­erly, it may lead to ath­er­o­scle­ro­sis-hard­en­ing of the arter­ies.

Researchers from the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases of Mayo Clinic and College of Medicine and the Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche of Florence exam­ined whether the addi­tion of olive oil to the diet would affect the func­tion of the endothe­lium. For the study, 88 patients with early ath­er­o­scle­ro­sis (endothe­lial dys­func­tion was present) were recruited. Fifty two com­pleted the 4 month dou­ble-blind, ran­dom­ized trial.

The orig­i­nal aim of the study was to com­pare the effect of a daily intake of 30 ml of sim­ple olive oil, with 30 ml of EGCG (a type of antiox­i­dant) sup­ple­mented olive oil, on endothe­lial func­tion.

After 4 months, both groups had improved endothe­lial func­tion, but there were no dif­fer­ences between the 2 groups. In other words, the plain olive oil was as effec­tive as the EGCG sup­ple­mented olive oil.

The researchers noted that sup­ple­men­ta­tion with olive oil seems rea­son­ably easy and rel­a­tively cheap dietary mea­sure to improve endothe­lial func­tion and per­haps alter the pro­gres­sion of ath­er­o­scle­rotic dis­ease.

Well not only easy and cheap, but also a good-tast­ing one.


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