Eat Fish, Nuts, Fruit and Whole Grain, Drink Booze, Don't Smoke and Move to Turkey - You'll Live Longer

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This May Be the Best Diet Ever

 

A little fish, a handful of nuts, some fruit, a slice or two of whole

wheat bread, and a few sips of wine may improve your health and increase

your longevity. It's called a Mediterranean style diet, and it may help

you to live long to a ripe old age.

 

This type of diet includes high amounts of whole grains, fruits, nuts,

vegetables, potatoes, and olive oil, but very little meat and dairy. It

appears to prevent deadly metabolic syndrome and improve longevity,

according to research from two studies that appear in the Journal of the

American Medical Association.

 

Here's the stunning conclusion: If you eat a Mediterranean style diet,

drink alcohol in moderation only, get regular physical exercise, and

don't smoke, you will reduce your risk of death from any cause by a

whopping 65 percent. But you have to do all four of these activities to

reap the longevity benefit.

 

Diet and Health

Led by Dr. Dario Giugliano, researchers from Policlinico Seconda

Universita di Napoli in Italy wanted to assess the role diet plays in

metabolic syndrome, a condition that is characterized by a fat belly,

high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and increased blood sugar. It

affects one in four American adults. One hundred eighty patients, all of

whom suffered from the condition, were randomly assigned one of two

diets. The first was the Mediterranean-style diet. The second was a

" prudent " diet that consisted of 50 to 60 percent carbohydrates, 15 to

20 percent protein, and less than 30 percent total fat.

 

After two years, the patients who followed the Mediterranean-style diet

lost more weight than those on the other diet. Most important, 78 of the

90 patients who were on the " prudent " diet still had metabolic syndrome,

compared with 40 of the 90 patients on the Mediterranean diet, a

statistically significant difference.

 

Diet and Longevity

Kim T. B. Knoops and a research team from Wageningen University in the

Netherlands examined the effect of a Mediterranean-style diet and other

lifestyle factors on 10-year survival rates in elderly European men and

women. The medical records and data from 1,507 apparently healthy men

and 832 women ages 70 to 90 were examined over a 12-year period from

1988 to 2000. During this time 935 of the subjects died.

 

The researchers concluded the following:

 

* Following a Mediterranean-style diet reduces the risk of death

from any cause by 23 percent.

 

* Enjoying moderate alcohol use only reduces the risk of death by

22 percent.

 

* Participating in physical activity reduces the risk of death by

37 percent.

 

* Not smoking reduces the risk of death by 35 percent.

 

* Do all four and the risk of death from any cause drops by 65 percent.

 

Approximately 60 percent of all deaths in this study were attributed to

NOT pursuing these activities. The researchers are quick to point out

that while the study does offer a strong association between healthy

habits and a longer life, there is no proof of this.