Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Researchers have discovered that eating unsaturated fats, like those in olive oil, can help provide protection from hypertension.
Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated `good` fats and when used daily, can bring instant and easy wellness to a family`s diet.
The Mediterranean diet typically includes unsaturated fats found in olive oil, nuts and avocados, along with vegetables like spinach, celery and carrots that are rich in nitrites and nitrates.
When these two food groups are combined, the reaction of unsaturated fatty acids with nitrogen compounds in the vegetables results in the formation of nitro fatty acids.
The researchers used mice to investigate the process by which these nitro fatty acids lower blood pressure.
They looked at whether they inhibited an enzyme known as soluble Epoxide Hydrolase which regulates blood pressure.
During the study, nitro fatty acids were found to lower the blood pressure of normal mice following the same diets.
The findings have been published in the journal PNAS.
(With Agencies inputs)
