Hydroxytyrosol: the secret against childhood obesity in olive oil

Hydroxytyrosol is an olive oil substance that can improve oxidative stress, insulin resistance and fatty liver disease in obese and fatty liver children.

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A completely natural method to defeat the scourge of childhood obesity comes from olive oil

It is one of the problems that affects both children and adolescents worldwide, with a progressive increase in the number of children with overweight and obesity in industrialized countries and the parallel increase in cases of fatty liver or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A situation which must necessarily be remedied. But how to fight childhood obesity?

One answer could be a completely natural method: L 'olive oil, among other things considered as a drug by the US FDA. In it you will find thehydroxytyrosol, a substance capable of improve oxidative stress, insulin resistance and fatty liver disease in obese and fatty liver children.

To analyze it for the first time were the doctors and researchers of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome, with the collaboration of the chemistry, biology and pharmacology department of the University of Messina.

This is how the first pediatric trial with the use of hydroxytyrosol, which is nothing more than a phenol of olive oil with high antioxidant power. However, to obtain the desired antioxidant effect, large quantities of olive oil would be required with the serious risk of becoming obese, but today it is possible to use, thanks to the progress of pharmaceutical technology, only the antioxidant substances of olive oil, recovering only the beneficial effects.

The study involved 80 obese and fatty liver children, divided into two groups of 40. One group was given hydroxytyrosol (in doses of 7 mg per day), to the other a placebo. After 4 months, without changing the diet, the treated group improved the oxidative stress parameters (in 3 out of 4 children), insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis, which was resolved in 60% of cases. The research therefore showed that hydroxytyrosol is a substance that, when used in the dosages tested, reduces insulin resistance (the first step towards type II diabetes) without causing weight gain, unlike 'whole' olive oil. which is very caloric.

“Hydroxytyrosol - explains Valerio Nobili, head of hepatology, gastroenterology and nutrition of the Child Jesus - is taken in pearls that are easily consumed by children and does not present problems of palatability or side effects, being a natural substance. It can be prescribed by all pediatricians who treat children with obesity and fatty liver ".

Therefore, fighting overweight and obesity in children will also be possible by prescribing completely natural products, but let's not forget that the battle already starts with a correct diet and the right amount of physical activity.