TITLE:
Including Extra Virgin Olive Oil May More Improve Glycemic Control despite Similar Weight Loss Compared to the Diet Recommended by the Prostate Cancer Foundation: A Randomized, Pilot Study
AUTHORS:
Mary M. Flynn, Jennifer Cunningham, Joseph Renzulli, Anthony Mega
KEYWORDS:
Prostate Cancer, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Weight Management
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.8 No.10,
October
27,
2017
ABSTRACT: Recommendations for prostate cancer treatment include weight loss, but
the most efficacious diet has not been determined. Men on active surveillance or with untreated biochemical relapse
consumed both the diet recommended by the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)
and a plant-based that included three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil per
day for 8 weeks of weight loss and improvement in some laboratory biomarkers
with random assignment to the diet order. They then selected one of the diets
for six months of follow-up. Thirty
men started the protocol and 18 completed the 44 week study. Mean age:
66.6 ± 5.9 years; baseline body mass index: 30.9 ± 2.7 kg/m2. Weight
loss was comparable between the diets after 8 weeks (PCF: 2.5% ± 3.1% v olive
oil: 2.8% ± 3.7%; p = 0.86), but the
diet that included olive oil resulted in lower insulin (PCF: 13.7 ± 7.0 mU/L v
olive oil: 11.5 ± 4.4 mU/L; p =
0.02), glucose (PCF: 104.9 ± 9.9 mg/dl v 99.1 ± 9.6 mg/dl; p = 0.01), and HOMA-IR (PCF: 3.6 ± 2.1 v olive oil: 2.9 ± 1.2; p = 0.02). Thirteen of the 18 men choose
the olive oil diet for six months of follow-up and weight loss and lab
improvements were maintained. This pilot study indicates that both the PCF diet
and the plant-based diet that included extra virgin olive oil can produce
similar weight loss short-term. However, a plant-based diet that includes extra
virgin olive may be more acceptable for long-term use, and produce better
glycemic control.