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Lee Swanson Research Update
Olive Oil Compounds May Boost Cardiac Fat Oxidation
November 2010
Olive oil, oleuropein and caffeic acid may enhance fat oxidation and optimize cardiac energy metabolism in obesity conditions, and improve oxidative stress in the heart, according to a new study on rats.
The research published in Nutrition Journal suggests that olive oil and its phenolic compounds may have myocardial antioxidant activity in non-obese lab rats, while boosting the heart’s metabolism and fat oxidation in obese rats.
"To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that evaluated the relative potency of olive oil and its phenolic constituents, oleuropein and caffeic acid, on…markers of metabolic pathways in cardiac tissue of obese rats," stated the researchers, led by Dr. Geovana Ebaid from Sao Paulo State University in Brazil.
"It was evident that the beneficial effects of olive oil and its minor constituents enhancing fat oxidation were reflected in cardiac tissue of obese rats," they added.
Olive oil phenolic compounds have attracted attention because of their potential anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Such compounds have also been associated with the antioxidant activity of olive oil.
The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of olive oil and its minor phenolic constituents on calorimetric parameters, myocardial oxidative stress and energy metabolism in cardiac tissue of control and obese rats.
After 42 days, researchers found energy expenditure, oxygen consumption, and fat oxidation were lower in the obese group than in the non-obese control group.
Obese rats supplemented with olive oil, oleuropein and caffeic acid had higher oxygen consumption, increased fat oxidation and lower carbon dioxide production than non-supplemented obese rats, according to the researchers.
Dr. Ebaid and colleagues noted that antioxidant enzymes were unaffected by olive oil and its compounds in obesity condition, but increased in non-obese olive oil and oleuropein supplemented rats.
In non-obese, standard feeding conditions, dietary supplementation with olive oil phenolic compounds induced changes in the substrate used for energy generation in cardiac tissue, said the researchers.
"The present study demonstrated for the first time that olive oil, oleuropein and caffeic acid enhanced fat oxidation and optimized cardiac energy metabolism in obesity conditions," the authors concluded.
They added that the study has "brought new insights" for the actions of olive oil on obesity-related cardiac metabolism, noting that olive oil and its phenolic compounds, oleuropein and caffeic acid, also had myocardial antioxidant activity in standard-fed conditions.
Further studies testing for similar benefits in humans are needed to confirm their findings, and to "show the importance of these changes on cardiac function," the researchers said.
Nutrition Journal 9(1):46, 2010
