The protective effect of the Mediterranean diet on the various risk factors of cardiovascular alteration, especially on lipidic metabolism, the consumption of different types of fat, and the consumption of antioxidants, is currently being studied with great interest.

OBJETIVE

The assessment in a group of healthy people of advanced age, with moderate life habits, of the modifications in the parameters of lipidic metabolism when 120 g of meat protein are replaced by 120 g of a food characteristic of the Mediterranean diet as is acorn-flavoured Iberian ham.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

21 people, 13 men and 8 women with an average age of 71, without high cholesterol levels or high blood pressure and non-smokers, were subjected to the same diet and life style.

Their serum was measured, together with their total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c, TG, Ip (a), Apo A and Apo B levels as parameters of lipidic metabolism.

The study was divided into 2 consecutive periods of 6 weeks each. 3 determinations were made, one prior to the study (BD1), another at the end of the first period with the replacement of 120 g of meat protein with 120 g of acorn-flavoured Iberian ham (HD), and finally at the end of the second period with the restoration of the base diet (BD2).

The techniques used were nephelometry for Apo A, Apo B, and Ip (a) (Nephelometer Analyser II; Dade Behring); for total cholesterol, HDL-c and TG colour-enzymatic techniques were used in the Hitachi 911 automatic analyser (Boehringer, Mannheim, Germany). The results of the LDL-c were calculated.

RESULTS

The results are expressed as average + standard deviation; * = a significant difference (p<0.01) vs. the BD1 period, and # = a significant difference vs. the HD period (p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Acorn-flavoured Iberian ham, characteristic of the Mediterranean diet, modifies oxidative activity, decreasing oxidants and increasing antioxidants.