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Dear Colleagues and Friends,
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This week the OHIS Newsletter would like to share the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet on rheumatoid arthritis and obesity. A recently published article provides an overall review of the effects of natural products that serve as complementary and alternative therapies for alleviating pain and inflammation related to rheumatoid arthritis. Among dietary products, olives and extra virgin olive oil (essential components of the Mediterranean diet) contain high levels of tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol. These two abundant phenolic compounds can inhibit platelet aggregation and counteract the effects of circulating proinflammatory molecules, such as cytokines, leukotrienes, thromboxanes, and cyclooxygenases. One particular molecule found in extra virgin olive oil, oleocanthal, plays an essential role in reducing inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis through various mechanisms. Oleuperin has also been demonstrated to effectively ameliorate and delay the onset of rheumatoid arthritis in mouse models. Thus, as exemplified in this review with greater detail, the adherence to the Mediterranean diet may help alleviate inflammatory processes and symptoms associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
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A second review provides an overview of the relationship between gut microbiota and diet and the positive effects of the Mediterranean diet on obesity. As demonstrated by various authors, bacterial profiles of the microbiome are tightly related to dietary practices. In the case of the Mediterranean diet, the abundance of plant derived foods promote healthier bacterial profiles in comparison to other diets, such as the Western dietary pattern. Under the influence of a Mediterranean diet, the gut microbiome has been characterized as having a predominant presence of beneficial bacteria, but also a wider diversity of bacterial strains, including Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroides uniformis, and Prevotella. Furthermore, the detrimental strains of bacteria are less abundant. These deleterious bacteria are predominantly gram-negative (Firmicutes and E. coli) and characterized by the presence of lipopolysaccharides which damage the gut-membrane and ensue an inflammatory state. The gut microbiome has also been shown to play a vital role in the metabolism of the host. In the particular case of patients with obesity, the microbiome is less diverse and presents an abundance of deleterious bacterial strains. For these and many other beneficial effects attributed to the Mediterranean diet, healthful dietary patterns in general may be useful approaches to counter the ever-rising obesity rates.
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