Mediterranean diet 'lengthens life'
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet and exercising daily can help you live longer, according to research.
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While this is hardly a revelation; for decades scientific studies - and common sense - have suggested that people adhering to a Mediterranean diet and taking regular exercise have lower rates of heart disease and other health problems.
What is new is that it is the first study to look at how dietary patterns and exercise relate to mortality.
The joint studies - published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine - involved over half a million Americans over a five-year period.
The first study found that people eating Mediterranean-style food - a diet rich in vegetables, nuts, legumes, fruit and fish - reduced their risk of dying early by a fifth from cancer, heart disease or any other cause.
The benefit was especially strong in smokers who were not overweight, who nearly halved their risk of death if they closely followed the Mediterranean diet. The researchers suggest that smokers may benefit from the antioxidant and blood fat-lowering effects of Mediterranean-style eating.
In the second study, researchers found that compared with being inactive, individuals who exercised for about 30 minutes most days of the week, reduced their risk of early death by more than a quarter.
Those who did vigorous physical activity for at least 20 minutes three times per week were 32 per cent less likely to die. Smaller amounts of physical activity were associated with a 19 per cent reduced risk of death.
"This large study adds weight to previous research that being active and eating a Mediterranean-style diet reduces the risk of dying early, including from heart disease," said Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation. "Almost everyone in this study, including those who are obese or smoke, increased their chance of staying alive for longer by staying active and eating healthily."
