The Proof is in: the Mediterranean Diet Helps You Live Longer

A large research study has confirmed what smaller studies only hinted at—eating a Mediterranean diet could add years to your life.

American and Greek researchers—from Harvard University in Boston and the University of Athens, Greece, respectively) teamed up to study the effects of the Mediterranean diet on more than 20,000 Greek men and women.

The participants of the study were chosen according to the absence of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes in their bodies. The researchers then followed them for over 8 years, rating them on how well they followed the Mediterranean diet. During this time, factors that commonly lead to death, such as cigarette smoking, were factored into their calculations.

At the end of the study, in June of 2008, the researchers concluded that the Mediterranean did, indeed, substantially increase longevity rates for those who closely followed the diet.

The Mediterranean primarily diet consists of eating fruits, vegetables, olive oil, nuts, beans, and drinking moderate amounts of wine. Meat is also eaten infrequently.

At the conclusion of this study, the researchers found that the biggest dietary determinants of longevity are a high consumption of fruits, vegetable, monosaturated fats (as are found in olive oil) nuts, and legumes, and a low consumption of meat and meat products. Perhaps the biggest surprise of their study, however, was the greatest contributor to longevity—moderate alcohol consumption.

Details of these results were published this week in the online version of the “British Medical Journal.”