Endothelial function in obese and overweight patients: the role of olive oil, fish and nuts.

Objective: To assess the effect of olive oil, non fried fish and nuts on endothelial function in overweight/obese patients. Methods: 47 overweight/obese patients (24 men, mean age 54 ± 11 years) fed healthy diet (HD) defined according to the Nureta- PREDIMED study for 3 months; after this 3 months of HD, the patients were blindly divided into 4 groups: Controls (24: HD), Group A (8: HD+olive oil), Group B (8: HD+not-fried fish), Group C (7: HD+nuts). These four groups were also followed-up for further 15 months. All patients were evaluated at baseline, at 3 and 18 months for glucose and lipid profile, anthropometric measures and brachial artery Flow-Mediated Dilatation (FMD). Results: HD alone significantly increased FMD at 3 and 18 months follow-up as compared to baseline. Olive oil or not-fried fish or nuts significantly increased FMD as compared to HD at 18 months follow-up. Waist circumference, body mass index significantly decreased after 3 and 18 months; lipid parameters at 18 months improved in all groups as compared to baseline. Fasting glycemia did not change after 18 months (baseline: 101 ± 19 mg/dl vs 18 months: 98 ± 12 mg/dl; p=ns). Conclusions: HD is able to improve endothelial function after a short (3 months) period and olive oil, not fried fish and nuts adding seem to increase such an improvement at a longer (18 months) period. Thus, HD and some of its components can improve cardiovascular risk profile of individuals.