ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is controversy in determining the effects of olive oil in the lipidic metabolism. We studied the changes produced in the lipid profile after substituting sunflower dietetic oil with virgin olive oil. POPULATION AND METHODS: We studied 154 cadets of Academia General Militar de Zaragoza (AGEMZA), analyzing their smoking habits, anthropometric measures and dietetic intake. Hematologic, biochemical and lipidic parameters were determined in venous blood samples. All sunflower dietetic oil was substituted with olive oil, without making any other qualitative-quantitative variation in the diet 10 weeks after which the morphometric and analytical evaluation was repeated, comparing both measurements. RESULTS: 87% of cadets took part in the study. 34.3% of them were smokers. There were no significant anthropometric changes. After the interventional period, there was a decrease of 12.2% in total cholesterol (166.6 vs 146.2 mg/dl; p < 0.0001), 13.5% in LDL-cholesterol (99.7 vs 86.2 mg/dl; p < 0.0001), 12.2% in triglycerides (71.1 vs 62.4 mg/dl; p < 0.0001), 9.9% in HDL-cholesterol (52.6 vs 47.4 mg/dl; p < 0.001), despite which total-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio increased 3.1% (3.2 +/- 0.7 vs 3.1 +/- 0.7; p < 0.001). There were no changes in Lp(a) plasmatic concentrations or hematologic or biochemical parameters. CONCLUSION: The improvement of the lipidic parameters can only be explained by the use of olive oil in the diet of the AGEMZA cadets.
