Women who follow a Mediterranean diet are likely to live longer.
A new study from Brigham and Women's Hospital looked at medical data from more than 25-thousand women spanning as long as 25-years.
“To our knowledge this is the largest population-based study specifically addressing the association between Mediterranean diet adherence and telomere length in healthy, middle-aged women,” explains Immaculata De Vivo, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at BWH and Harvard School of Public Health and senior author of the study. “Our results further support the benefits of adherence to this diet to promote health and longevity.”
“Our findings showed that healthy eating, overall, was associated with longer telomeres. However, the strongest association was observed among women who adhered to the Mediterranean diet,” adds Marta Crous-Bou, a postdoctoral fellow in the Channing Division of Network Medicine and first author of the study.
They found that women who predominantly followed the Mediterranean diet had a 23-percent reduced risk of mortality for all causes.
That usually means eating fruits and vegetables, nuts and legumes, fish, healthy fats and less red meat.
(Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo: JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images