The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7319 p455
2 October 2004

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Mediterranean diet leads to longer life for elderly

Elderly men and women who eat a Mediterranean diet, keep active and do not smoke have a significantly greater life expectancy than those not adopting this lifestyle.

The results of a pan-European study carried out in 2,339 healthy subjects illustrates the effects of diet and lifestyle on people aged 70 to 90 during a 10-year follow up. Those on a Mediterranean diet, non-smokers (or those who had stopped smoking 15 years previously), the physically active and moderate drinkers had less than half the mortality from all causes, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Each factor was associated with lower mortality rates. Combinations were particularly powerful, according to commentators. The healthy diet alone reduced mortality by 23 per cent. The figure for moderate alcohol use was a 22 per cent reduction in deaths, exercise reduced mortality by 37 per cent and non-smoking by 35 per cent. People adopting all four approaches reduced their mortality rate by 65 per cent.

The diet had a high ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fat and was rich in nuts, seeds, legumes, fish, fruit and vegetables. It was also low in meat. Exercise was moderate, defined as at least 30 minutes of walking per day. The low risk group for alcohol was defined as those who consumed any amount of alcohol.

Publishing in JAMA (2004;292:1433), the authors say that their findings were derived from two studies — the Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly, a Concerned Action (SENECA) and the Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Elderly (FINE) trials.

The authors conclude: “A Mediterranean diet, rich in plant foods in combination with non-smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, and at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day is associated with a significantly lower mortality rate, even in old age.”

In the same journal, Italian doctors show that a Mediterranean diet can help reduce metabolic syndrome and its associated cardiovascular risk.

Metabolic syndrome comprises a variety of factors which increase the risk of heart disease. It includes obesity, dyslipidaemia, raised blood pressure and glucose intolerance. In this study, ninety patients with this syndrome were instructed to follow a Mediterranean diet and 90 control patients followed a “prudent” diet.

After two years, only 40 patients on the Mediterranean diet still had features of the metabolic syndrome compared with 78 patients in the control group (ibid 2004; 292:1440).