Women who follow a Mediterranean diet are 40% more likely to live a healthy life past 70

Study evaluated the diet and medical records of more than 10,000 women 

It found those on a Mediterranean diet were healthier and lived longer 

A typical Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil

It has less red meat and lower amounts of saturated fats

Middle-aged women who eat a Mediterranean diet are more likely to live healthier and longer lives, a new study has found.

Women who follow a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish, which is closely associated with the traditional Mediterranean diet, were less likely to suffer from major chronic diseases and physical ailments.

They were also found to be 40 per cent more likely to live past the age of 70. 

Time to make a lifestyle change? A new study has found women on a Mediterranean diet are 40% more likely to live past 70

Lead researcher Cecilia Samieri, a postdoctoral fellow who conducted the study while at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said: 'We found that greater quality of diet at midlife was strongly associated with increased odds of good health and well-being among individuals surviving to older ages.

 

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'Women with healthier dietary patterns at midlife were 40 per cent more likely to survive to age 70 or over.

'Maintaining physical, cognitive, and mental health with aging may provide a more powerful incentive for dietary change than simply prolonging life or avoiding any single chronic disease.'

Ms Samieri, who is now a researcher at INSERM and Universite de Bordeaux, in France, added that those on a Mediterranean diet were more likely to be classed as 'healthy agers' although only 11 per cent of participants were classified as healthy agers overall.

Back to basics: A typical Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken and olive oil but is low in red meats and saturated fat

Ms Samieri and her colleagues evaluated the diet and medical records of more than 10,000 women in their late 50s or early 60s who took part in a larger Nurses’ Health Study between 1984 and 1986. They then asked the same women about their health an average of 15 years later. 

Ms Samieri described the Mediterranean diet as being characterized by a greater intake of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fish; a lower intake of red and processed meats; moderate intake of alcohol; higher amounts of monounsaturated fats, mostly provided by olive oil from Mediterranean countries; and lower amounts of saturated fats.

The researcher believes the diet would have a similar impact on men. 

But the director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, Connie Diekman, pointed out the study is only observational, telling health.com: 'Cause and effect cannot be exclusively linked'. 

The study, funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, will be published this month in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2487546/Women-follow-Mediterranean-diet-40-likely-live-healthy-life-past-70.html#ixzz2jnjJLukf 
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