Olive oil supplements vs air pollution

TAKING olive oil supplements may counteract some of the adverse cardiovascular effects of exposure to air pollution, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

The randomized study involved 42 healthy adults who received either 3g/day of olive oil, fish oil, or no supplements for 4 weeks before undergoing controlled 2-hour exposures to filtered air, followed on the next day by exposure to fine/ultrafine concentrated ambient particulate (CAP) matter in a controlled-exposure chamber.

Tissue plasminogen activator, a protein involved in the breakdown of blood clots, increased immediately after CAP exposure in the olive oil group, and this effect persisted up to 20 hours. Olive oil supplementation also ameliorated changes in blood markers associated with vasoconstriction and fibrinolysis, while fish oil supplementation had no effect on endothelial function or fibrinolysis after CAP exposure.