6/30/2010 PERMALINK
Virgin olive oil and a Mediterranean diet fight heart disease by changing how your genes function. Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group at the Institut Municipal d'Investigacio Medica in Barcelona, Spain : Everyone knows olive oil and a Mediterranean diet are associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, but until now no one has known why. Now new research has found that consumption of these foods actually changes how the genes associated with atherosclerosis function. 'Knowing which genes can be modulated by diet in a healthy way can help people select healthy diets,' said Maria Isabel Covas, D.Pharm., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work.