A healthy Mediterranean diet has proven to increase longevity of life

A study that was conducted and published by the British Journal of Nutrition has proven to show that sticking to a healthy Mediterranean diet has shown to increase your life span whilst also decreasing the risk of dementia. This diet consists of mostly plant based food along with moderate intake of alcohol and lean meats. Adhering to this sort of diet and consuming it in moderation has shown various health benefits for heart, health and brain even if started at a later age.

"We found, for the first time I believe, a dose-response relationship between the Mediterranean diet and mortality risk. That means that the greater adherence to this diet, the greater the benefit.the Mediterranean diet is rich in many anti-inflammatory foods, so for example, generally olive oil and fibers and also antioxidants which may play a role in improved longevity.The main finding is that adherence to the Mediterranean diet is protective against all-cause mortality and also against some cardiovascular outcomes in a sample of elderly people," said the study's first author, MarialauraBonaccio, an epidemiologist at the Mediterranean Neuromed Institute, a hospital and research institute in Pozzilli, Italy.

The study has some major limitations. One is that it is purely observational and the intake of food was self-reported whilst the other was that the study can’t be generalised considering it was conducted on adults who were of the age of 65 or older.