Greek is the word if you want a tasty diet that could help you live longer

Published on Tuesday 23 June 2009 22:51

A MEDITERRANEAN diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oil and pulses, washed down with a glass of red wine, helps us live longer.

But consuming plenty of fish, seafood and cereals and few dairy products does not provide the same boost to healths.

In the first study to analyse individual components of the Mediterranean diet, researchers found some ingredients are much more vital than others in promoting longevity.

Keeping meat consumption down and resisting excessive drinking were important factors, according to the study of 23,000 men and women in Greece.

And when high intake of vegetables, low intake of meat or moderate alcohol intake were excluded from the rating system, the benefits of following a Mediterranean diet were substantially reduced.

The researchers, whose findings are published online in the British Medical Journal, also noted that there are clear benefits in combining several of the key foods, for example high consumption of vegetables and olive oil.

Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said: "The analysis indicates the dominant components of the Mediterranean diet score as a predictor of lower mortality are moderate consumption of ethanol (mostly in the form of wine during meals, as is traditional in the Mediterranean countries] low consumption of meat and meat products, and high consumption of vegetables, fruits and nuts, olive oil, and legumes.

"In contrast, high consumption of fish and seafood and cereals overall, as well as low consumption of dairy products overall, as components of the traditional Mediterranean diet contribute little to the ability of the Mediterranean diet score to predict mortality, at least in this Mediterranean population."

The researchers, who followed up the participants for an average of 8.5 years, during which time 1,075 deaths occurred, split the Mediterranean diet into its nine components for their analysis.

This included high intake of vegetables, fruits and nuts, legumes such as peas and beans, fish and seafood, and cereals, along with low intake of meat and meat products and dairy products, high ratio of mono-unsaturated to saturated lipids, and moderate intake of ethanol, the main ingredient of alcohol.

They found the most useful component of the diet was moderate alcohol consumption (23.5 per cent) followed by low consumption of meat and meat products (16.6), high vegetable consumption (16.2), high fruit and nut consumption (11.2), high mono-unsaturated to saturated lipid ratio (10.6), and high legume consumption (9.7 per cent).

But the contributions of high cereal consumption and low dairy consumption were minimal, whereas high fish and seafood consumption was associated with a non-significant increase in death rates.

The study participants were given dietary and lifestyle questionnaires when they enrolled and their diets were rated from zero to ten based on the level of conformity to a traditional Mediterranean diet.

As part of the interview process, participants were also asked about their smoking status, levels of physical activity and whether they had ever been diagnosed with cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Prof Trichopoulou added: "The dominant components of the Mediterranean diet score as a predictor of lower mortality are moderate consumption of ethanol, low consumption of meat and meat products, and high consumption of vegetables, fruits and nuts, olive oil, and legumes."