Mediterranean diet is recipe for long life

by Terri Potratz | September 12, 2008 at 09:50 am

3548 views | 26 Recommendations | 54 comments

This is exactly the kind of study I love to hear about: veggies, fish, olive oil and wine are some of the key ingredients to healthy living. While the Mediterranean diet has long been examined for its beneficial nutritional properties, this is the first time a study has looked as the diet as a whole rather than isolating particular food groups.

The extensive research project spanned across 12 nations (6 of which were Mediterranean), monitoring 1,574,299 participants over 3-18 year intervals.

Greater adherence to the diet was associated with a 9% lower overall mortality, a 9% lower cardiovascular mortality, a 6% lower incidence of or mortality from cancer, and a 13% lower incidence of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, Francesco Sofi, M.D., of the University of Florence, and colleagues reported online in the British Medical Journal.

The Mediterranean diet, widely reported to be a model of healthy eating, is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, nuts, olive oil, and a moderate intake of red wine during meals, but is low in red meat, dairy products, and alcohol.

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JeffHuang

at 10:00 on September 12th, 2008

I think the Japanese diet is also the recipe for longevity.

Terri Potratz

at 11:03 on September 12th, 2008

Ah yes, good call. However, I think generally if people are staying away from the North American diet, they're in pretty good shape...

azul79

at 13:22 on September 12th, 2008

I love the Mediterranean diet I must say. Although I'm Scottish and now living back in Scotland, I spent many years in Spain and it has definitely influenced my diet - for the better I must add!

Marite2007

at 13:43 on September 12th, 2008

I was in Greece in the beautiful costal town of Parga, Epirus and was attracted by this wonderful lemon tree, as a fan of Greece, nature and healthy Mediterranean food.

Marite2007 has contributed a photo to this story.

brechti

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:19 on September 12th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

All food rich in vegetables, fruits, native oils and a lot of sun is good!

jujuhoodoo

at 14:27 on September 12th, 2008

I'd eat shrimp, salmon, and crab rather than red meat any day!

square one studio

at 15:06 on September 12th, 2008

This vegetarian pasta salad is a healthy crowd-pleaser that makes great use of a late-summer bounty of basil. The spinach in the pesto boosts its bright green hue and the pine nuts add protein and a satisfying, nutty crunch.

square one studio has contributed a photo to this story.

tinamswain

at 16:18 on September 12th, 2008

Just a yummy spinach salad i made one night!

tinamswain has contributed a photo to this story.

glitzypursegirl

at 17:48 on September 12th, 2008

we are trying to do the whole food, organic, locally sourced, slow food approach.....just trying to minimize the processed foods and far flung ingredient origin, we even found coffee roasted in reno, nevada, yes not grown there, but, at least the roasting in local!

lap (not verified)

at 17:58 on September 12th, 2008

besides the diets mentioned before,something that can improve your health is drinking green juice before going to sleep, made from spinach, cucumber, and celery along with fruit juice in the morning made strawberry, orange ,blueberry, and banana.

shimaceo

at 20:59 on September 12th, 2008

Thanks for the photo invite!

My main interest is in food in general (big surprise!), but I do tend to find that most recipes I try to make at home that have a meditteranean influence or beginning, are very well balanced and very satisfying. The emphasis is on "simple" and there aren't a lot of heavy sauces or copious amounts of fat.

Zeetz Jones

at 21:07 on September 12th, 2008

A great salad to make. Simple and easy. Spinach and strawberries? Who would have thought it's such a great combination?

Zeetz Jones has contributed a photo to this story.

quietjim

at 22:46 on September 12th, 2008

Broiled salmon with Cajun spice; spinach, tomato, cucumber dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

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el rey buenvino

at 23:01 on September 12th, 2008

On a diet or not, any food does taste better with a nice glass of wine on the side. It keeps your heart pumping.

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RokShots

at 23:23 on September 12th, 2008

I wish we had the mediterranean style weather to make it easier to follow the mediterranean style diet, I think we all eat and feel better when the sun is shinning and it's warm.

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Amitjha

at 23:31 on September 12th, 2008

Nice story about the greatness of food, but any food is Good or bad for people depends upon the food habit of that particular region.simply speaking i cant digest olive oil .

proggirl

at 23:53 on September 12th, 2008

I'm mexican,and love the mexican food,but I think it's not for everybody,cause it's too spicy.

Mediterranean diet and japanese also are the best ones for me.The olive oil and the green tea are been considered as principal elements agains the cancer on the human health.

jardek

at 00:02 on September 13th, 2008

Thanks Jeff Huang for the invite.

I agree that Japanese food is a good diet. Just last night I dined in a Japanese restaurant, the food was great and light .I ate a kani salab, maki and house tea just enough for the night. Filipinos have a distinct vegetable food by the Ilokano race. Very distinct.

Uwe Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:45 on September 13th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

There are 3 groups of Human with exceptional long life spans, one is found in the Mediterranean areas, where Lamb, Fish, Cabbage, Millet, Rice and Olive oil are the main ingredients, then there is Okinawa Islands in Japan, where Rice, Fish, Insects, Alleges, Dycon and Cabbage are the main ingredients and the Third is actually a small town in California, with Rice, Cabbage, Fish and Olives and Tomatoes as main diet.

The 3 areas have no genetic resemblance, Yet they do have a healthy died and eat less then other cultures about 20% less food intake then other Western cultures. They all live outside, many of the land and sea and they have low stress levels. No toxic factories nor high pollutants can be found in those areas either. Further they are among the heaviest smokers and Do consume Wine or Sake. The study was a joint study of the University of Tokyo and London.

Mainyy_

at 00:58 on September 13th, 2008

Thanks for adding my photo in. =))

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Mainyy_

at 01:29 on September 13th, 2008

(oops, sorry double post.)

neistridlar

at 01:52 on September 13th, 2008

Simply a glas of red wine

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eri_38

at 02:19 on September 13th, 2008

We are visiting Montalcino, a pretty village in Tuscany; we have eaten in a "enoteca" in the centre with a typical dish: Tuscany's cheese and salumi ( ham ecc...) and a nice glass of "Rosso di Montalcino."
Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!

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oreolla

at 03:29 on September 13th, 2008

I do not know much about Mediterranean cuisine... I definitely do not like pizzas and pastas though. I used to Georgian and Armenian type of foods. It is not exactly Mediterranean region, but more like Black Sea or the Caucasus area.The most common foods they eat are: lots of greenery like cilantro and crest salad; very young cheeses; lamb (shish kebab); poultry with lots of walnut based vegetable sauces; beans. Remarkably enough they do not serve salads in European style, but serve a lot of raw fresh greenery. In my knowledge people in the Caucasus area especially in the mountains often live beyond 100 years.

julianne_aberilla

at 03:54 on September 13th, 2008

My family is on a strict diet. Even though nobody in our family is fat, we still prefer to eat vegetables and fish rather then meat. It's much safer since 2 of the family members are known for having a weak heart.. We drink wine every time someone turns a year older. I just turned seventeen and my folks brought me one.

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Violet Weed (not verified)

at 18:18 on January 15th, 2009

Be careful eating a lot of fish! You could end up with mercury poisoning, see the story below:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20252763,00.html?cnn=yes

Also, you should be careful what kind of 'farm raised' fish you eat because a lot of farm-raised fish are fed bad food (not their natural diet) and are very low in omega-3, etc. Also, if you eat fish supplied by those third-world countries involved in that international trade agreement (I forget the name), you better watch out for that! You see, those third world countries get to tell US whether or not they meet our standards (I call that asinine to the max). Chile, for example, uses a LOT of DDT on their crops that they then say are 'organic', and that DDT runs off into the holding tanks where the 'farm raised' salmon, etc. are raised.

You can do a little test of your own ... take a piece of farm-raised salmon and a piece of wild caught salmon, put it on, say, the roof of your garage or your lanai (what you mainlandahs call 'balcony'), and wait to see if the birds will eat it. You will discover they do NOT eat the farm raised salmon. Perhaps you could say it's because the farm-raised salmon is COLORED pink, rather than having real pink flesh.

As for being on a vegetarian diet, you don't need meat OR fish for protein, beans & rice and a few nuts are the same thing. As for drinking wine, tsk tsk tsk!, don't you realize that they (the news media, aka "devil's minions") skew statistics to their own use because most of them are liar. Drinking wine is not good for your body, you have organs that have to clean out your system and alcohol, delivered to your body through any form (wine, beer, cough syrup) forces your body to filter it out. There's no reason to drink any alcohol, at all. It's like feeding a horse sugar cubes. They don't 'naturally' like sugar, and they NEVER need it, any more than you need cow's milk, wine, beer, whatever.

Make your own discoveries, Ms. Aberilla, but just let me add that if you feed your body healthy food and you feed your brain intelligent ideas that require you THINK through them, you'll have a long and enjoyable life, just as I have had.

L'chaime!

dipster1

at 05:00 on September 13th, 2008

This homemade lunch on a recent holiday on the island of Zakynthos Greece was delicious. If the British climate was better than it is I have no doubt more food of his nature would be eaten, washed down with a cold crisp beer under the hot sun. However, in the wind and rain of the UK comfort food seems to be, unfortunately the easy option for me.

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