Protection from hypertension in mice by the Mediterranean diet is mediated by nitro fatty acid inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase

The Mediterranean diet is characterized by consumption of unsaturated fats with vegetables rich in nitrite and nitrate, resulting in endogenous formation of nitro fatty acids. These reactive lipids adduct to soluble epoxide hydrolase, inhibiting it to lower blood pressure. Mice genetically engineered to be resistant to this adductive inhibition had high blood pressure basally and their hydrolase activity was fully resistant to inhibition by nitro fatty acid supplied directly or generated via the Mediterranean diet. Similarly nitro fatty acid lowered blood pressure and abrogated cardiac hypertrophy in a hypertension model in wild-type mice, but was ineffective in mutant mice. Thus, protection from hypertension afforded by the Mediterranean diet is mediated by nitro-fatty acid-dependent inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase.

Mediterranean diet counteracts a genetic risk of stroke

 Led by Ordovás and corresponding author Dolores Corella, Ph.D., of the CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutriciόn , the researchers focused on a variant in the Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 (TCF7L2) gene, which has been implicated in glucose metabolism but its relationship to cardiovascular disease risk has been uncertain. About 14 percent of the PREDIMED participants were homozygous carriers, meaning they carried two copies of the gene variant and had an increased risk of disease.

"Being on the Mediterranean diet reduced the number of strokes in people with two copies of the variant. The food they ate appeared to eliminate any increased stroke susceptibility, putting put them on an even playing field with people with one or no copies of the variant,

Researchers identify new substance in olive oil that reduces risk of Alzheimer's disease

chemical structure of oleocanthal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Amal Kaddoumi and colleagues note that Alzheimer's disease affects about 30 million people worldwide, but the prevalence is lower in Mediterranean countries. Scientists once attributed it to the high concentration of healthful monounsaturated fats in olive oil - consumed in large amounts in the Mediterranean diet. Newer research suggested that the actual protective agent might be a substance called oleocanthal, which has effects that protect nerve cells from the kind of damage that occurs in AD. "

Mediterranean diet helps cut risk of heart attack, stroke: Results of PREDIMED study presented

Results of the PREDIMED study, aimed at assessing the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet in the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine. They show that the Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or tree nuts reduces by 30 percent the risk of suffering a cardiovascular death, a myocardial infarction or a stroke.

New study reveals that every single junk food meal damages your arteries

A single junk food meal – composed mainly of saturated fat – is detrimental to the health of the arteries, while no damage occurs after consuming a Mediterranean meal rich in good fats such as mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids, according to researchers at the University of Montreal-affiliated ÉPIC Center of the Montreal Heart Institute. The Mediterranean meal may even have a positive effect on the arteries. The findings are being presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, which runs in Toronto until Wednesday, by the head of the study, Dr. Anil Nigam, Director of Research at the Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre (ÉPIC) and associate professor at the university's Faculty of Medicine.

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveals-junk-food-meal-arteries.html#jCp

Mediterranean diet improves health

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