Lee Swanson Research Update

Mediterranean Diet, Exercise Linked to Longevity

March 2008

A large-scale study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that exercise and eating a Mediterranean diet is beneficial for health and longevity.

National Cancer Institute researchers, who initiated the study, said: "The Mediterranean diet has been suggested to play a beneficial role for health and longevity. However, to our knowledge no prospective U.S. study has investigated the Mediterranean dietary pattern in relation to mortality."

The researchers, based in Bethesda, MD, used a nine-point system to assess whether the eating habits of 214,284 men and 166,012 women conformed with a Mediterranean diet (components included vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, whole grains, fish, ratio of monounsaturated fats, alcohol and meat).

During the five-year study 5,985 participants died from cancer and 3,451 individuals died from cardiovascular disease. Overall, "the Mediterranean diet was associated with reduced all-cause and cause-specific mortality," according to the research article. For example, data on female study participants indicated an inverse association with high conformity to the diet, ranging from "12% for cancer mortality to 20% for all-cause mortality."

Researchers found that those who conformed to the Mediterranean diet were less likely to die of any cause or of cancer or heart disease. They concluded: "These results provide strong evidence for a beneficial effect of higher conformity with the Mediterranean dietary pattern on risk of death from all causes, including deaths due to cardiovascular disease and cancer, in a U.S. population."

Archives of Internal Medicine 167(22):2461-2468, 2007

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