Adding oil of acebuche, type of Spanish wild olive tree, to your diet can reduce arterial hypertension, suggests study

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a chronic disease that leads to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and other health issues. Blood pressure levels between 130/90 -139/90 mmHg are defined as Stage 1 hypertension. Arterial hypertension is a more severe stage of hypertension where the blood pressure levels are at or higher than 140/90 mmHg. Because this is a more severe form of hypertension, it can obviously cause many more complications than stage one hypertension. According to a study published in Deutsches Arzteblatt International in 2018, a combination of first-line antihypertensive drugs and appropriate lifestyle changes are combined to control arterial hypertension and reduce the risk of diabetes as well as cardiovascular and eye diseases. A new study published in Antioxidants suggests a more natural way to reduce arterial hypertension, that is by enriching your diet with acebuchin oil. What is acebuchin oil? You might not have heard of acebuchin oil or the plant it comes from but this variety of wild olive tree has restricted growth in Mediterranean countries. Acebuche, which is the ancient Spanish name of this tree, has a remarkable presence in the region of Andalusia in Southern Spain. Despite being related to olive trees, a plant whose fruit and oil are world, renowned for their immense health benefits - there is not much research on acebuche or acebuchin oil. The study in Antioxidants is the first to reveal that acebuchin oil has low antigenic and allergenic capacities: meaning that they are not easily contaminated by any parasites or microorganisms and are easily tolerated by most people without any allergic reactions. It also suggests that acebuchin oil has a much higher proportion of tocopherols (vitamin E) and sterols than extra virgin olive oil does. Given these beneficial properties, the researchers behind this study set out to examine if acebuchin oil can reduce high blood pressure and, particularly, tackle the problem of oxidative stress that arterial hypertension inevitably causes. Antihypertensive qualities of acebuchin oil Oxidative stress plays a huge role in leading to the various complications of hypertension. Not only does it cause pulmonary arterial hypertension (acute hypertension in the arteries between the lungs and the heart) but is also associated with a number of retinal diseases. Current research suggests that oxidative stress can cause age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa and hypertensive retinopathy. To examine if acebuchin oil supplementation can reduce oxidative stress, the researchers used a rodent model. All the mice were aged between 10 to 12 weeks and were randomly divided into six groups of 12 mice each. Three groups consisted of healthy mice while the other three had hypertensive mice. One group of normotensive and one group of hypertensive mice each were given a normal diet, a diet enriched with 12 percent acebuchin oil dietary pellets and a diet with 12 percent extra virgin oil dietary pellets. The study was conducted for six weeks during which all food and water consumption was continuously monitored. The researchers found that the mice who had been given an acebuchin oil-enriched diet showed improvements in endothelial function, vascular function and hypertrophy in the heart - all signs of a reduction in oxidative stress levels. It shows that acebuchin oil was able to reduce oxidative stress much more effectively than extra virgin olive oil could. There are many natural methods of controlling blood pressure, especially by tailoring your diet. This study indicates that adding acebuchin oil to your diet may be a more effective way of controlling hypertension and also reducing oxidative stress. And while acebuchin oil may not be that well known, it’s effectiveness as a valuable diet component is made quite clear through this study. For more information, read our article on Hypertension diet.  Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.