Kris Aquino, a prominent TV personality, has faced significant health challenges in recent years, impacting her weight and overall well-being. This article delves into her health journey, her dietary considerations, and explores the potential benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, particularly the role of olive oil, in managing her conditions.
Kris Aquino's Health Journey
In 2017, Kris Aquino alarmed her fans over her drastic weight loss. At that time, she lost almost 15 pounds in under a month. The TV personality said in a post, “I am now, and for the rest of my existence, will be on high dosage antihistamines, and having the EpiPen will always be crucial."
In late 2023, Kris revealed that she had been diagnosed with Churg-Strauss syndrome, which affects her blood vessels and can cause damage to several organs. She captioned on Instagram, "The reason I decided to go home is because I need to start my second immunosuppressant infusion in [two to three] weeks (it's a gentler term for chemotherapy)." Kris also asks for prayers from her fans "Bawal ang unnecessary stress.
Fast forward to April 2025, Kris Aquino revealed that she is facing nine autoimmune diseases. Due to her fragile health, Kris remains mostly confined in her room in Bonifacio Global City. Months later in the same year, the former TV host updated netizens that her diseases continue to increase in number. "Before and while writing this, I still have fever, it's expected to happen often since I've been diagnosed with Progressive Systemic Sclerosis a.k.a Scleroderma, LUPUS, Polymyositis, and Mixed Connective Tissue disease… my on and off low grade (37.8 to 38.6) fever refuses to leave.
Given these complex and evolving health issues, a carefully planned diet is crucial for Kris Aquino to manage her symptoms and support her overall health. While her specific diet plan is not publicly detailed, understanding the principles of a health-supportive diet, like the Mediterranean Diet, can offer insights into potential nutritional strategies.
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The Importance of Nutrition in Managing Autoimmune Diseases
Human nutrition is a relatively new science based on biochemistry and the effects of food constituents. Ancient medicine considered many foods as remedies for physical performance or the treatment of diseases and, since ancient times, especially Greek, Asian and pre-Christian cultures similarly thought that they had beneficial effects on health, while others believed some foods were capable of causing illness. Hippocrates described the food as a form of medicine and stated that a balanced diet could help individuals stay healthy. Understanding molecular nutrition, the interaction between nutrients and DNA, and obtaining specific biomarkers could help formulate a diet in which food is not only a food but also a drug.
Autoimmune diseases, like those Kris Aquino is battling, involve the immune system mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues. While there is no cure for these conditions, dietary interventions can play a significant role in managing inflammation, supporting the immune system, and alleviating symptoms.
The Mediterranean Diet: A Potential Framework
The Mediterranean Diet (TMD) is the best known and most studied dietary pattern globally. It is characterized by high consumption of legumes, vegetables, fish, nuts, fruits, grains, seeds, olive oil, medium-low use of alcohol (especially red wine) and sweets, and low use of sugary drinks, processed and red meat. Several observational studies have shown that adherence to TMD is linked to a better quality of life, greater longevity, and reduced mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and other diet-related disorders.
Given its emphasis on anti-inflammatory foods and overall health benefits, the Mediterranean Diet could serve as a beneficial framework for Kris Aquino's diet plan.
Core Components of the Mediterranean Diet
- Abundant Fruits and Vegetables: Rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which help combat oxidative stress and inflammation.
- Legumes and Whole Grains: Provide fiber, which aids in digestion and helps regulate blood sugar levels.
- Healthy Fats, Especially Olive Oil: A cornerstone of the diet, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and polyphenols, offering numerous health benefits.
- Fish and Poultry: Preferred over red meat, these provide lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids, known for their anti-inflammatory properties.
- Nuts and Seeds: Offer healthy fats, fiber, and essential nutrients.
- Limited Red Meat and Processed Foods: These are minimized due to their potential to promote inflammation and other health issues.
Cardiovascular Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Coronary heart disease (CHD) represents a significant burden on global health. TMD is considered the diet with the lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, even though there is a high content of MUFA (Monounsaturated Fatty Acids). In Europe, more than 85 million people are currently (2015) living with cardiovascular disease, which causes nearly 4 million deaths per year, accounting for 45% of the total mortality burden. The excellent study PREDIMED documented how TMD can reduce the risk of stroke compared with a low-fat diet (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.80); however, it cannot reduce the incidence of cardiovascular or overall mortality. High dietary saturated fat intake can increase blood concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), an established risk factor for coronary heart disease.
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Many nutritional studies to evaluate the protective role of TMD on the heart have used intermediate biomarkers (reduced blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammatory molecules, or other biomarkers) for cardiovascular risk analysis. A sub-study of PREDIMED, focusing on lipoprotein particles, found that TMD has a role in increasing HDL molecules. In addition, this diet, enriched with walnuts, reduced LDL concentrations, documenting a protective role in atherogenesis. Storniolo et al. have documented a reduction in serum ET-1 (Endothelin-1) levels in subjects with a Mediterranean nut diet. The decline in the concentration of ET-1 can determine the downregulation of the receptors responsible for the contractile effect of ET-1, such as ETAR (endothelin receptor A) and ETBR (endothelin receptor B), implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
The Role of Olive Oil in a Health-Supportive Diet
According to the production mechanism, there are two types of olive oil, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and refined olive oil (ROO). EVOO is made directly from olives, the fruit of Olea Europea, by mechanical extraction, which consists of crushing and pressing the olives. The derived benefits of olive oil consumption are mainly related to its high MUFA content. Olive oil contains the glyceric fraction, which makes up 99% of its composition, and the non-glyceric fraction (0.5%). A lower expressed fraction of PUFA (4-20%) is represented by linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid and a low concentration of SFA (stearic and palmitic acids). The lowest level of free fats in olive oil reduces the risk of developing inflammation.
Analyzing the components of EVOO, oleic acid (OA; 18:1n-9) and palmitoleic acid (PO; 16:1n-7) are the main MUFAs. These are natural acids in the diet but can also be synthesized from SFA derived from lipogenesis. Because of the mentioned characteristics, foods enriched with MUFAs are highly recommended to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce body weight, and produce other health benefits. In addition, it is possible that MUFA also have a protective role against drug-induced hepatotoxicity, reduce proliferation and apoptosis in smooth vascular muscle cells (CMVF), and enhance endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. Polyphenols are other constituents of EVOO. They are divided into flavonoids, phenolic acids (vanillic, cumastic, caffeic, protected, p-hydroxybenzoic, ferulic), flavones (apigenin, luteolin), lignans (acetoxypinoresinol, pinoresinol), phenolic alcohols (tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol), flavone glycosides (luteolin-7-O-glucoside, apigenin-7-O-glucoside), and secoiridoids (oleoresin, oleocantaline, oleuropein, p-HPEA-EA). They can reduce oxidative stress processes and possess cardioprotective, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory cancer, neuroprotective, and various other effects. The most critical polyphenols in olive oil are oleuropein, hydroxybutyl (its hydrolytic degradation products), and tyrosol.
Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats, various antioxidant phenols, and other micronutrients that mediate the protective effects of CV through improvements in oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, thrombosis, blood pressure, and metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates. The consumption of olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil rich in phenolic antioxidants, seems helpful in preventing coronary heart disease (CHD).
An essential component of EVOO, Hydroxytyrosol (HT), seems to have anti-inflammatory effects. It can attenuate nitric oxide synthase (Inos), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and Interleukin 1 (IL)-1β expression and can inhibit granulocyte and monocyte activation through the activity of hydroxybutol. Oleuropein (another polyphenol in olive oil with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity) appears to reduce IL-1β expression. It has shown a reduction in COX-2 and IL-17 expression in colon biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis. Long-term and short-term studies have suggested that phenolic compounds are beneficial for the cardiovascular action of EVOO and have shown an improvement in antioxidant capacity, a reduction in F2-isoprostane, and production of ROS and serum sNOX2-dp, an activation marker of Nox2.
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Wang and Zhi recently published a study based on a large sample, with which they evaluated the association between olive oil consumption and the risk of CVD and stroke. The authors documented that the consumption of olive oil at exactly between 20 and 30 g/day was associated with a lower risk of CVD and stroke. In light of this data, it is necessary that doctors should promote the intake of olive oil with the aim of acting on primary prevention and secondary prevention in order to minimize the risk of individual CVD.
Types of Olive Oil and Their Benefits
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO): Made from pure, cold-pressed olives, EVOO retains the most nutrients and antioxidants. It's ideal for drizzling, salad dressings, and low-heat cooking.
- Refined Olive Oil: Processed to remove impurities, refined olive oil has a higher smoke point and is suitable for higher-heat cooking. However, it contains fewer nutrients than EVOO.
Gene-Diet Interactions and Personalized Nutrition
Little is currently known about gene-diet interactions, but as scientific research progresses, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis from the entire genome is now acquired quickly and conveniently, increasing the prospect of creating personalized dietary recommendations based on the genetic variability of an individual with multiple SNP. Studies of global human genomic variation have identified essential differences in the population regarding the allelic frequencies of common SNPs, which influence gene expression, regulating the metabolism of some of the most commonly consumed nutrients in humans.
Numerous DNA base pairs organized in chromosomes constitute the human genome. Genes occupy only a tiny fraction (<1%) of the genome; the rest include important regions to control the transcription of various genes, as well as repetitive regions and large regions with unknown functions. A single gene can produce multiple transcriptions each containing only specific exons, allowing individual genes to encode multiple protein isoforms. Molecular biology has always been based on the concept that progression from DNA to RNA to protein is a simple process, along which multiple changes can occur, such as to alter the expression of genes and, in turn, impair the effect of any genetic variant. It should be borne in mind that individual variants may, however, not be expressed equally in all individuals.
The Modern Western Diet (MWD) has documented how different genetic components and certain nutrients, when it comes to metabolism, have the ability to develop harmful gene-diet interactions. This process can alter molecular phenotypes (levels of bioactive nutrients and their metabolites) and clinical phenotypes, including human disease. A potentially dangerous gene-diet interaction can be affected by different genetic, environmental, and biological components. First, other gene-diet interactions can result from the type of exposure to a human population. A further aspect to consider about gene-diet interactions concerns epigenetic alterations that affect crucial biological processes, for example, the metabolism of food nutrients. These epigenetic modifications are responsible for changes in gene expression and are often heritable, but unlike SNPs, they do not result in alteration in the DNA sequence.