Olive pomace oil (OPO) is mainly a source of monounsaturated fat together with a wide variety of bioactive compounds, such as triterpenic acids and dialcohols, squalene, tocopherols, sterols and aliphatic fatty alcohols. To date, two long-term intervention studies have evaluated OPO’s health effects in comparison with high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO, study-1) and sunflower oil (SO study-2) in healthy and cardiovascular risk subjects. The present study integrates the health effects observed with the three oils. Two randomized, blinded, cross-over controlled clinical trials were carried out in 65 normocholesterolemic and 67 moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects. Each study lasted fourteen weeks, with two four-week intervention phases (OPO versus HOSO or SO), each preceded by a three-week run-in or washout period. Regular OPO consumption reduced total cholesterol (p = 0.017) and LDL cholesterol (p = 0.018) levels as well as waist circumference (p = 0.026), and only within the healthy group did malondialdehyde (p = 0.004) levels decrease after OPO intake versus HOSO. Contrarily, after the SO intervention, apolipoprotein (APO) B (p < 0.001) and Apo B/Apo A ratio (p < 0.001) increased, and to a lower extent APO B increased with OPO. There were no differences between the study groups. OPO intake may improve cardiometabolic risk, particularly through reducing cholesterol-related parameters and waist circumference in healthy and hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Knowledge on the bioavailability of coffee (poly)phenols mostly come from single dose postprandial studies. This study aimed at investigating the effects of regularly consuming a green coffee phenolic extract (GCPE) on the bioavailability and metabolism of (poly)phenols. Volunteers with overweight/obesity consumed a decaffeinated GCPE nutraceutical containing 300 mg hydroxycinnamates twice daily for two months. Plasma and urinary pharmacokinetics, and fecal excretion of phenolic metabolites were characterized by LC-MS-QToF at weeks 0 and 8. Fifty-four metabolites were identified in biological fluids. Regular consumption of the nutraceutical produced certain changes: reduced forms of caffeic, ferulic and coumaric acids in urine or 3-(3′-hydroxypenyl)propanoic, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acids in feces significantly increased (p < 0.05) after 8 weeks; in contrast, coumaroylquinic and dihydrocoumaroylquinic acids in urine decreased (p < 0.05) compared to baseline excretion. The sum of intestinal and colonic metabolites increased after sustained consumption of GCPE, without reaching statistical significance, suggesting a small overall effect on (poly)phenols’ bioavailability.

Background: olive pomace oil (OPO) is a nutritionally relevant fat due to its high oleic acid content (C18:1) and the presence of a wide range of minor bioactive components. Although numerous in vitro and preclinical studies have been developed to study some of its characteristic components, the health effect of prolonged OPO consumption is unknown. Methods: a randomised, blinded, cross-over, controlled clinical trial was carried out in 31 normocholesterolemic and 37 hypercholesterolemic subjects. Participants consumed 45 g/day of OPO or sunflower oil (SO) for 4 weeks, each preceded by a 3-week run-in/wash-out phase with corn oil (CO). Results: regular consumption of OPO and SO had no statistically significant effect on any of the markers related to lipid profile, blood pressure, and endothelial function in both groups, except for eNOS levels, which were close to statistical significance due to the effect of oil (OPO and SO) (p = 0.083). A decrease in visceral fat (p = 0.028) in both groups was observed after OPO intake, accompanied by an increment of leptin (p = 0.017) in the hypercholesterolemic group. Conclusion: reducing visceral fat after prolonged OPO intake might contribute to improve cardiometabolic status, with a potentially positive effect on the vascular tone. Further clinical trials are needed to confirm the present results.