Previous studies suggest that olive oil may have heart-healthy benefits and reduce the risk of chronic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and breast cancer. The phenolic compounds found in olive oil have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting effects. Now research reports that olive oil consumption may help reduce DNA oxidative damage, a precursor of cancer. The researchers suggest that the greater consumption of olive oil in southern Europe may account for their lower cancer rate, in comparison to northern Europe.
The double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover study, published in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), investigated the effects of olive oil on urinary oxidation products. Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke in Germany, administered twenty-five milliliters of 3 olive oils with low, medium, and high phenolic content to 182 healthy men daily for 3 weeks. The participant's urine samples were analyzed for DNA and RNA oxidative damage.
The researchers found that DNA oxidation was reduced by 13 percent. The findings also revealed that this effect was not associated with the phenolic content in olive oil.
"These findings support the idea that ingestion of olive oil is beneficial and can reduce the rate of oxidation of DNA," the study authors write. "This effect is not due to the phenolic content in the olive oil. The higher DNA and RNA oxidation in Northern European regions compared with that in Central and Southern regions supports the contention that olive oil consumption may explain some of the North-South differences in cancer incidences in Europe."
REFERENCES:
1. Machowetz A et al. Effect of olive oils on biomarkers of oxidative DNA stress in Northern and Southern Europeans. FASEB J. 2007 Jan;21(1):45-52. Epub 2006 Nov 16.
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on February 9, 2007 03:59 PM
