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. 2015 Jul 20;5(7):e172.
doi: 10.1038/nutd.2015.23.

Extra virgin olive oil use is associated with improved post-prandial blood glucose and LDL cholesterol in healthy subjects

F Violi  1 , L Loffredo  1 , P Pignatelli  1 , F Angelico  2 , S Bartimoccia  1 , C Nocella  1 , R Cangemi  1 , A Petruccioli  3 , R Monticolo  4 , D Pastori  1 , R Carnevale  5
Affiliations

Extra virgin olive oil use is associated with improved post-prandial blood glucose and LDL cholesterol in healthy subjects

F Violi et al. Nutr Diabetes. .

Abstract

Objectives: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet and seems to account for the protective effect against cardiovascular disease. However, the underlying mechanism is still elusive.

Design: We tested the effect of EVOO, added to Mediterranean-type meal, on post-prandial glycemic and lipid profile.

Subjects: Post-prandial glycemic and lipid profile were investigated in 25 healthy subjects 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). 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), were analyzed before and 2 h after the meal.

Results: In the first study, 2 h after meal, subjects who assumed a meal with EVOO had significantly lower blood glucose (P<0.001), DPP-4 protein (P<0.001) and activity (P<0.001), LDL-C (P<0.001) and ox-LDL (P<0.001) and higher insulin (P<0.05), GLP-1 (P<0.001) and GIP (P<0.05) compared with those without EVOO. The second study showed that compared with corn oil, EVOO improved both glycemic and lipid profile. Thus, a significantly smaller increase of glucose (P<0.05), DPP4 protein (P<0.001) and activity (P<0.05) and higher increase of insulin (P<0.001) and GLP-1 (P<0.001) were observed. Furthermore, compared with corn oil, EVOO showed a significantly less increase of LDL-C (P<0.05) and ox-LDL (P<0.001).

Conclusions: We report 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.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Interventional study: blood glucose (a), insulin (b), GLP1 (c), GIP (d), DPP-4 concentration (e) and DPP-4 activity (f) before and after 2 h of a meal with (black line) or without (gray line) extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), *P<0.001, **P<0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Interventional study: LDL-C (a), ox-LDL concentration (b), triglycerides (c) and HDL-C (d) before and after 2 h of a meal with (black line) or without (gray line) extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), *P<0.001, **P<0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Interventional study: blood glucose (a), insulin (b), GLP1 (c), GIP (d), DPP-4 concentration (e) and DPP-4 activity (f) before and after 2 h of a meal with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO; black line) or corn oil (gray line), *P<0.001, **P<0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Interventional study: LDL-C (a), ox-LDL concentration (b), Triglycerides (c) and HDL-C (d) before and after 2 h of a meal with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO; black line) or corn oil (gray line), *P<0.001, **P<0.05.
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