Mediterranean diet but also Mediterranean lifestyle, here are revealed the two long life secrets that not only help you live longer but also protect against cellular degeneration and cardiovascular diseases. This emerges from a very recent scientific research that appeared in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal thanks to a collaboration between Spanish scientists, from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, and Americans from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (Maroto Rodriguez et al, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Aug 2023).
Mediterranean lifestyle, for everyone and in all countriesThe study we are discussing today is noteworthy since it analyzed two important aspects, namely that the Mediterranean diet is not just a way of eating but includes a real lifestyle, the Mediterranean lifestyle, and that this lifestyle can be adapted to anyone, even to people who live far from the Mediterranean area, who eat their local products and live in their socio-cultural context. In general, the Mediterranean lifestyle consists in a diet high in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, that includes extra virgin olive oil and fish, that limits salt and sugar, and in habits such as a good restful sleep, to practice moderate activity physical and socialise. So the results we are going to comment on are even more interesting as they allow us to understand that a lifestyle that keeps cancer and heart disease away is within everyone’s reach, in any country.The studyScientists recruited 100,779 people living in England, all adults aged between 40 and 75. The study participants provided information about their diet and lifestyle and, on the basis of these results, the scientists calculated their adherence score to the Mediterranean lifestyle. The volunteers were followed up for a period of 9 years during which their state of health was checked. Well, what emerged was that those who adhered more to the Mediterranean lifestyle had a 28% lower risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease with fatal outcomes compared to those who followed this lifestyle less. In general, every single habit related to the Mediterranean lifestyle has been shown to independently reduce the risk of death from disease, but the greatest results were observed adopting all the habits included in the Mediterranean lifestyle. Rest, conviviality and moderate physical activity have been shown to protect the heart more than other habits.
ConclusionsThe key to long life doesn’t depend on genes or where you live. The study we talked about today has the merit of having demonstrated that everyone can adopt a lifestyle that helps to live longer and healthier, reducing the risk of diseases such as cellular degeneration and cardiovascular disease. We still remember what is meant by the Mediterranean lifestyle, which has proven to be so protective. This lifestyle involves taking fruit, vegetables, whole grains and extra virgin olive oil every day, limiting the use of salt and sugar as well as the intake of refined foods, it includes also dried fruits and nuts, fish and legumes, ensuring a good rest, a moderate physical activity and sociability. And this can be done anywhere, in one’s own context and by feeding oneself with one’s own local products. In short, the secret of a long life is for everyone.
