U.S. scientists may have found the key to the heart healthy Mediterranean diet New chemical identified in extra-virgin olive oil mimics properties of ibuprofen

Go ahead, drag a crust through the olive oil still glistening in that dish.

Not only will the oil-soaked bread help satiate your appetite but a newly discovered chemical in the olive oil mimics the anti-inflammatory properties of ibuprofen, a commercial painkiller.

Which means, say the discoverers, that the best olive oils may pay an extra health dividend by conferring protection against chronic inflammatory diseases like stroke, heart disease and some cancers.

"A Mediterranean diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil could be the equivalent of taking a baby Aspirin a day in terms of cardiovascular benefits, but that's only a hypothesis for now," says U.S. biologist Gary Beauchamp.

"You'd have to drink a quart to relieve a headache," he told one interviewer.

Beauchamp stumbled across the natural anti-inflammatory properties of extra-virgin olive oil while attending a meeting in Sicily about molecular gastronomy, a research focus of the non-profit Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia where he is based.

Sampling some fresh olive oil at the Sicily meeting, Beauchamp instantly noticed a stinging sensation in the back of the throat, an experience shared by many gourmets.

But Beauchamp knew from previous studies that ibuprofen produced an identical throaty bite. Lab analysis pinpointed the natural compound responsible, which the researchers dubbed oleocanthal.

In a paper published this week in the leading research journal Nature, Beauchamp and colleagues report that oleocanthal dampens down activities of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes in a manner similar to ibuprofen. Many experts believe the COX enzymes play a key role in inflammation in the body.

"Our findings raise the possibility that long-term consumption of oleocanthal may help to protect against some diseases by virtue of its ibuprofen-like COX-inhibiting activity," the scientists write.

Beauchamp said the highest concentrations of oleocanthal occur in extra-virgin olive oil, and consuming 50 grams a day of such oils would equal one-tenth the ibuprofen dose recommended for adult pain relief.

Canadians can count on getting the real goods if they spend big bucks for the added inflammation-fighting properties of the extra-virgin grade, said Stan Bacler, a chemist who once regularly checked retail samples of olive oil at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency here.

"There was quite a bit of adulteration in the mid-1990s but we're not finding much now," he said.

Standards set by the International Olive Oil Council in Spain say virgin oils must be obtained from olives solely by mechanical means such as pressing. Extra-virgin oil must be below one per cent in acidity and also meet exhaustive criteria for other natural chemical component

Source: TORONTO STAR
Daily Newspaper edition 2nd September 2005