Mediterranean Diet Might Help Keep You Young, Study Shows

Researchers at Harvard Medical School believe that a Mediterranean-style diet could help you live longer.

The diet, composed of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, unrefined grains, fish and olive oil was found to support longer telomeres in blood cells, otherwise known as DNA forms of protective caps at the ends of chromosomes.

"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," said lead study author Immaculata De Vivo, in a news release. "Our results further support the benefits of adherence to this diet to promote health and longevity."

For the study, 4,700 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, a long-term study following the health of more than 120,000 Nurses' working in the U.S. measured the length of telomeres in the blood cells from samples the nurses gave between 1989 and 1990. They also measured the women's diets based on a scaled from zero to nine, with a higher number indicating greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Findings revealed that women with higher scores tended to have longer telomeres than those with lower ones.

"Our findings showed that healthy eating, overall, was associated with longer telomeres," said study co-author Marta Crous-Bou, a postdoctoral fellow in the Channing Division of Network Medicine. "However, the strongest association was observed among women who adhered to the Mediterranean diet."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the BMJ. 

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