What Doctors Don't Tell YouIf you want to live long and well, stick to a healthy diet such as the Mediterranean. Researchers have discovered that elderly people who had a healthy lifestyle and who ate the Mediterranean diet had just half the rate of disease and illness as those who ate ‘normally’.
They selected 1507 men and 832 women, aged between 70 and 90 years, from 11 European countries, and monitored their lifestyle choices and health for 10 years. Overall 935 participants died during the study period, but those who followed the Mediterranean diet, drank moderate amounts of alcohol, had moderate physical activity of 30 minutes a day, and who didn’t smoke were only half as likely to suffer and die from cardiovascular disease or cancer in particular.
One of the most compelling features of the study was the fact that it was spread across 11 countries, and yet the researchers were able to draw the same conclusions from each. It’s also interesting to note that moderate alcohol had a beneficial effect.
Maryon Stewart
Tom Ferguson MD
