Three types of products are obtained from an olive grove: olive oil, virgin olive oil and olive oil. But there is one more product, coming from what is called alperujo, that is, from the remains of the olive (skin, bone…). It is olive pomace oil.
Spain is the world’s leading producer of olive pomace oil, with an average of 120,000 tons per year, of which 85% is exported.
This type of oil is characterized by its durability, profitability and neutral taste, and it has a composition rich in oleic acid and bioactive compounds of high nutritional interest.
And now, a study carried out by researchers from the (ICTAN) of the (CSIC) shows how regular consumption of this type of oil can have positive effects on cardiovascular health and associated pathologies, such as diabetes and obesity.
The results of the research, published in the journals , have been obtained from two clinical trials of nutritional intervention in 132 healthy volunteers and in subjects at risk (hypercholesterolemic), comparing the effect of olive pomace oil with sunflower oil. and the high oleic sunflower.
“When we started this project, only in vitro or preclinical studies had been carried out in experimental animals with some components of olive pomace oil. However, the effect of regular consumption of this oil in people was not known. For this reason, we set out to evaluate the impact of its daily consumption on cardiovascular health and on two associated pathologies such as diabetes and obesity, both in healthy consumers and in people with cardiovascular risk”, explains Laura Bravo Clemente, a CSIC researcher in the ICTAN.
With this objective, two randomized, controlled, crossover, and blind intervention clinical studies have been carried out for more than four years in 132 volunteers.
“We randomly distributed the participants into two groups to consume either the olive pomace oil or the control oil for four weeks. After this time and after a washing phase, the participants were crossed to consume the other oil for the same time, another four weeks. The studies were blind, so the volunteers were unaware of the oil that we provided them at each stage and that they consumed at a rate of 45 grams per day. Their consumption of other fatty dietary sources was restricted”, explains the CSIC researcher at ICTAN Raquel Mateos Briz.
The controls used were sunflower oil and high oleic sunflower oil, widely used in our country.
Reduction of cardiovascular risk factors
Well, the results obtained show the health benefits of regular consumption of olive pomace oil. Specifically, the researchers highlight the protection provided by this type of oil against cardiovascular disease, both among the participants who were healthy and those who were part of the risk group (volunteers).
Specifically, the researchers observed a decrease in the levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins (LDL or bad cholesterol). But not only that, the consumption of olive pomace oil also decreased significantly in the two groups analyzed.
It must be remembered that this parameter is essential in the evaluation of patients with obesity due to its association with increased cardiometabolic risk. Finally, the consumption of this type of oil also improved biomarkers related to insulin resistance and sensitivity among the participants.
In the case of the group of healthy consumers, the benefit of regular consumption of olive pomace oil was also transferred to the marker of oxidative stress, considered a pathophysiological condition associated with increased cardiovascular risk.
Regarding type 2 diabetes mellitus, the results of the study have shown a decrease in insulin levels and in the insulin resistance index, associated with a greater risk of developing this disease, improving instead tissue sensitivity to insulin, which could imply a lower risk of suffering from diabetes.
The study is part of the research work promoted by the . Since its creation in 2015, the organization has promoted eight investigations in collaboration with the CSIC.
The pomace sector presents a pioneering model in circular economy and zero waste, since it comprehensively transforms moist fatty pomace (alpeorujo) into value-added products, among which biomass, compost and antioxidant compounds with applications in industry stand out. pharmaceutical, such as hydroxytyrosol and other phenols.