Olive oil could help to reverse heart failure

Olive oil could help to reverse heart
failure, scientists claim
But animal fats appear to make the
disease worse
A man grabs an olive oil bottle.
By KASHMIRA GANDER
Tuesday 30 September 2014
Olive oil could help reverse a patient’s
heart failure "immediately", scientists
have claimed.
Oleate - the fat found in the golden liquid
- could help a diseased heart pump blood
more effectively and use body fat as fuel,
researchers at the University of Illinois
have found.
The most common reason a person may
suffer from heart failure is when the
muscle becomes damaged, including after
a heart attack, through drug or alcohol
abuse, and high blood pressure.
Shortness of breath, both during activity
or rest; swelling of the feet, ankles,
stomach and lower back; and fatigue are
all symptoms of heart failure.
Currently, there is no way to reverse heart
disease, and a combination of medication
and lifestyle changes help patients
manage their symptoms and keep their
condition stable.
Animal fats, found in butter, were found to make
heart disease worse (Getty)
Scientists made their findings based on
previous studies which show that a
healthy heart absorbs fat to keep
pumping, but if damaged the muscle can
no longer process or store far – starving it
of energy.
This means the heart is unable to work
hard enough, and toxic fat deposits are
left to clog up arteries.
Scientists believe that oleate helps the
body produce enzymes which break down
fat so the heart is once again able to
absorb it.
"These genes are often suppressed in
failing hearts," Douglas Lewandowski of
the University of Illinois in Chicago told
the Telegraph .
"So the fact that we can restore beneficial
gene expression, as well as more balanced
fat metabolism, plus reduce toxic fat, just
by supplying hearts with oleate is a very
exciting finding.
"This gives more proof to the idea that
consuming healthy fats can have a
significantly positive effect on cardiac
health."
To make their findings published in the
journal ‘Circulation’, researchers analysed
how rats hearts responded to oleate or
aplmitate, the fat found in animal fats and
dairy products.
When oleate was pumped through a
failing heart, scientists saw an
“immediate” improvement in how the
heart contracted and pumped blood, Dr
Lewandowski explained.
But, when animal fats were pumped
through the heart, the heart disease
worsened and more toxic fat was
produced.
The study is backed by previous research
which shows a diet high in olive oil can
have the same affect as statins in reducing
the risk of a heart attack