OBJECTIVES: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet and seems to account for the protective\neffect against cardiovascular disease. However, the underlying mechanism is still elusive.\nDESIGN: We tested the effect of EVOO, added to Mediterranean-type meal, on post-prandial glycemic and lipid profile.\nSUBJECTS: Post-prandial glycemic and lipid profile were investigated in 25 healthy subjects who were randomly allocated in a\ncross-over design to a Mediterranean-type meal added with or without 10 g EVOO (first study), or Mediterranean-type meal with\nEVOO (10 g) or corn oil (10 g; second study). Glycemic profile, which included glucose, insulin, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 (DPP-4)\nprotein and activity, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and lipid profile,\nwhich included, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (LDL-C), oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein\n(HDL) cholesterol (HDL-C), were analyzed before and 2 h after the meal.\nRESULTS: In the first study, 2 h after meal, subjects who assumed a meal with EVOO had significantly lower blood glucose\n(Po0.001), DPP-4 protein (Po0.001) and activity (Po0.001), LDL-C (Po0.001) and ox-LDL (Po0.001) and higher insulin (Po0.05),\nGLP-1 (Po0.001) and GIP (Po0.05) compared with those without EVOO. The second study showed that compared with corn oil,\nEVOO improved both glycemic and lipid profile. Thus, a significantly smaller increase of glucose (Po0.05), DPP4 protein (Po0.001)\nand activity (Po0.05) and higher increase of insulin (Po0.001) and GLP-1 (Po0.001) were observed. Furthermore, compared with\ncorn oil, EVOO showed a significantly less increase of LDL-C (Po0.05) and ox-LDL (Po0.001).\nCONCLUSIONS: We report for the first time that EVOO improves post-prandial glucose and LDL-C, an effect that may account for\nthe antiatherosclerotic effect of the Mediterranean diet.
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