Eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, and healthy fats, characteristic of the Mediterranean diet, paid off with greater longevity for women, in a new study.
Higher adherence to the dietary pattern was associated with a significantly lower risk of mortality over a long follow-up period, according to a large study published in JAMA Network Open.
The research was based on data from the Women's Health Study, which enrolled 25,315 initially healthy female health professionals in the United States between 1993-1996. Participants completed food frequency questionnaires at baseline, allowing researchers to calculate Mediterranean diet scores ranging from 0-9 based on intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, fish, red meat, and alcohol.
Over an average follow-up of nearly 25 years, there were 3,879 deaths from any cause. After adjusting for factors like age and lifestyle, women with Mediterranean diet scores in the middle (4-5) and upper (6-9) ranges had 8% and 11% lower risks of all-cause mortality, respectively, compared to those with lower scores of 0-3.
To investigate potential biological mechanisms, the researchers examined associations between Mediterranean diet adherence and 33 cardiometabolic biomarkers measured at baseline. Higher scores correlated with more favorable profiles for small molecule metabolites, inflammatory markers, triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, insulin resistance, and body mass index.
In mediation analyses, these biomarker groups explained 14.8%, 13%, 10.2%, 10.2%, and 7.4% of the mortality reduction linked to greater Mediterranean diet adherence, respectively. Cholesterol measures, branched-chain amino acids, and glycemic markers played smaller roles.
"In this study, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with 23% lower relative risk of mortality, which could be partially explained by multiple cardiometabolic risk factors," concluded lead author Dr. Shafqat Ahmad.
The findings add to existing evidence the Mediterranean diet pattern promotes longevity. However, much of the protective mechanism remains unexplained, suggesting other biological pathways may also be involved.
Full disclosures can be found in the study.
