Almost five million Americans are affected by heart failure, and each year, there are over 500,000 new cases diagnosed, says a study recently published in the Circulation journal. The same study, however, shares a more interesting discovery. A healthy dietary fat that is in olive oil can restore heart health.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine (UIC) found in their study, "Dietary Fat Supply to Failing Hearts Determines Dynamic Lipid Signaling for Nuclear Receptor Activation and Oxidation of Stored Triglyceride," that the usual dietary fat called oleate in olive oil can bring back the right metabolism of fuel in heart cells using an animal model of heart failure.

E. Douglas Lewandowski, senior and corresponding study author and director of UIC Center for Cardiovascular Research, narrates they saw “an immediate improvement in how the hearts contracted and pumped blood” when they perfused failing hearts of rats with oleate.

Lewandowski and colleagues examined both failing and healthy hearts in rats and its reaction when provided with either palmitate or oleate. Palmitate is fat found in animal fats, palm oil and dairy products, and is related to the Western diet.

They followed the position of fat molecules in cells of diseased hearts by tagging these with nonradioactive heavy isotope of carbon, detected through magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Such technology lets researchers watch the biochemical reactions as it occur real time in functioning organs. Through this, Lewandowski observed how fat metabolism inside cardiac cells of diseased hearts normalized.

Meanwhile, fat metabolism became imbalanced as well as cells grappled in accessing fuel when diseased hearts were perfused with palmitate.

In addition, toxic fatty byproducts were also on the rise, which is another result of impaired metabolism of fat.

Lewandowski says oleate not only balances metabolism of fat and reduces toxic fat metabolites in hypertrophic hearts, it also increases gene activation for enzymes metabolizing fat. He adds that such genes are frequently repressed in hypertrophic hearts.

“So the fact that we can restore beneficial gene expression, as well as more balanced fat metabolism, plus reduce toxic fat metabolites, just by supplying hearts with oleate – a common dietary fat — is a very exciting finding,” he says in a statement, adding that their findings provide more proof that consumption of healthy fats such as oleate brings about significant positive effects in cardiac health.

Further research reveals there were other studies that suggested a diet that is high in olive oil is effective as statins in minimizing the risks of heart attack.

The American Heart Association and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute provided grants for said research.