Cholesterol Mediterranean diet

I personally use and enjoy a wide variety of oils. Olive oil is great for sauteing certain foods and is a staple in the Mediterranean diet that s best for blood pressure control. Canola oil is similarly rich in the monounsaturated fatty acids that lower cholesterol when they re used to replace saturated fats. Canola oil is best when you re cooking at higher temperatures or when you don t want the... 

McDonald s and other fast-food restaurants, and the traditional Mediterranean diet is sadly on the wane. Similar changes have occurred in Japan and Italy, as well as in France, another country where healthy eating and active lifestyles dominated in the past. Not surprisingly, people who have traded olive oil for butter, and soups and fresh fish for cheeseburgers, have seen their cholesterol and blood pressure levels rise. The World Health Organization calculates that 600 million men and women in the world now have hypertension and that 3 million die annually from it. 

COnveision to bite salts, 60, 61 dietary intake, 326, 361-36S drugs to lower, 369 in the liver, 331 Mediterranean diet, 364-365 reverse cholesterol transport, 339 solubility, 26 Cholesterol esters, 326 Cholesteroi lo-hydroxylase, 331 Chotcstertit 7a-hydrcMyla , 60, 61 Choiesteryl esters, 326, 331, 341 Choiesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). 

Clinical trials involving mixed nuts have been conducted in six countries Australia, Canada, Israel, India, New Zealand, and the United States [61-67]. In the studies that reported blood lipid values, the nut diets significantly reduced total cholesterol from 7% to 25% and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 10%-33%. No studies found any significant effect on HDL cholesterol, and two found a significant decrease in triacylglycerols (TAG) [63,66]. Furthermore, both the Lyon Heart Study and the Indo-Mediterranean Diet Study showed a decrease in overall mortality and cardiovascular mortality [45,46]. 

Ros et al. [7] studied the effects of a walnut diet on endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Twenty-one hypercholesterolemic men and women were randomly assigned to a cholesterol-lowering Mediterranean diet and a walnut diet, hi the walnut diet, walnuts replaced 32% of the enetgy obtained from MUFA in the control diet (40 to 65 g of walnuts/day). Participants followed each diet for 4 weeks. Eight men and 12 women (mean age 55 years) completed the trial. Compared with the control diet, the walnut diet improved endothefium-dependent vasodilatation (from 3.6% to 5.9%, P = 0.043) and reduced levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (from 465 to 378pmol/L, P = 0.045). The walnut diet reduced both total (4.4%, P = 0.017) and LDL cholesterol (6.4%, P = 0.010) concentrations significantly. 

Research shows that higher levels of HDL cholesterol, commonly referred to as "good" cholesterol, may play a role in the preservation of memory. Many of the key components of the Mediterranean diet, including replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat, eating plenty of soluble fiber found in legumes and cereal, and moderate alcohol consumption, may also help support healthy HDL levels. 

One of the most abundant SFA in many common foods (dairy, meat, palm and coconut oil) is palmitic acid (PA, 16 0). The amoimt of PA is the highest in palm oil (around 50%), but significant amounts of PA (25-26%) can also be foimd in butter, chicken fat, lard, beef and lamb fat, as well as in cocoa butter. Even olive oil, which is one of basic components of the healthy Mediterranean diet contains around 16% of PA [6]. Fiulhermore, PA is present in human milk with 20-25% of total fats. Overall, PA and stearic acid (18 0) are the most common dietary SFA and therefore they are also the major SFA in hiunan plasma and tissues. Their concentration in serum/plasma phospholipids and cholesterol esters reflect dietary high fat intake. 

Although diets rich in n-3 PUFA from fatty fish markedly reduce the blood triglyceride level of people with high blood triglycerides, they do not affect people with normal levels of blood triglycerides. However, unlike the n-6 PUFA, the effect of n-3 PUFA on blood cholesterol and HDL cholesterol is inconsistent. There is also a wide gap between these dietary recommendations and the typical diets in North American and European countries (Table 13.16). These recommendations are consistent with the so called Mediterranean diet that includes oUve oil (containing up to 80% oleic acid) as the principal... 

The health benefits of OA have been implicated in olive oil as part of the Mediterranean diet (Wahle, Heys, and Rotondo, 2004). LDL particles rich in MUFA are less susceptible to oxidation than those containing PUFA. Some of the health benefits resulting from a higher intake of MUFA in olive oil are probably due to a decreased intake of SFA and PUFA such as LA which may result in greater desaturation of ALA to beneficial co3 LC-PUFA, therefore decreasing CVD risk. There is also evidence to indicate that OA is responsible for lowering LDL cholesterol and has beneficial effects on immune function. 

The Fyon Heart Study in France incorporated an n-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid) into a diet that was altered to develop a Mediterranean diet intervention. In the experimental group, plasma AFNA and EPA (Eicosapentenoic Acid) increased significantly and the trial reported a 70% reduction in cardiovascular mortality at 5 years. Total and FDF cholesterol were identical in the experimental and control groups, suggesting that thrombotic and perhaps arrhythmic events may have been favorably influenced by n-3 PUFAs. Since the diet altered many other variables, such as fiber and antioxidants... 

Monounsaturated fats Triacylglycerols containing primarily fatty acids with one double bond are referred to as monounsaturated fat. Unsaturated fatty acids are generally derived from vegetables and fish. When substituted for saturated fatty acids in the diet, monounsaturated fats lower both total plasma cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, but increase HDLs. This ability of monounsaturated fats to favorably modify lipoprotein levels may explain, in part, the observation that Mediterranean cultures, with diets rich in olive oil (high in monounsaturated oleic acid), show a low incidence of coronary heart disease. 

There have been three primary and eight secondary prevention trials in which dietary change was the only variable. Dietary modification included reduction in total fat, substitution of saturated fat by polyunsaturated oils and reduction in cholesterol intake. These changes resulted in a reduction of saturated fat intake by 27 55% and reductions in plasma cholesterol of up to 18%. However, with the exception of one study, the Lyon Diet Heart Study (de Lorgeril et al., 1994), neither total or CHD mortality was lowered significantly by the dietary interventions (Ravnskov, 1998 Parodi, 2004). In the successful Lyon Diet Heart Study, a Mediterranean-type diet was compared with the usual post-infarct prudent diet. Throughout this trial, plasma cholesterol levels were similar in both the treatment and control groups. 

Kris-Etherton, P. et al., Lyon Diet Heart Study Benefits of a Mediterranean-style, National Cholesterol Education Program/American Heart Association Step 1 dietary pattern on cardiovascular disease. Circulation, 103, 1823, 2001. 

Squalene is a naturally occurring triterpene and the precursor of steroids [66]. Oxidation (via squalene monooxygenase) of one of the terminal double bonds of squalene yields 2,3-squalene oxide, which undergoes enzyme-catalyzed cyclization to afford lanosterol, which is then elaborated into cholesterol and other steroids. Humans cannot live without squalene, because squalene is regarded as an essential building block for the production of hormones and other important substances in the human body. Squalene in olive oil may contribute to the low cholesterol levels of individuals consuming Mediterranean-style diets [67]. 

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