Go Mediterranean! Scientists Determine Better Diet to Prolong Your Life

The researchers have been examining the life-prolonging properties of the Mediterranean food for some time now, but never before did they do such extensive research involving so many tests for key biomarkers.

The scientists from the University of Barcelona, Spain seem to have found the food that boosts your chances of living past 65 and avoid dying of a heart attack when in your prime – the Mediterranean diet. Their research was published in the journal BMC Medicine.

After examining 642 Tuscany residents aged 65 and older for 20 years, the scientists concluded that the food they were digesting gave their bodies a better chance of avoiding death from cardiovascular conditions and reduced the all-cause mortality. The scientists took regular analysis for biomarkers of the research participants, such as polyphenols, plasma carotenoids, unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio, selenium and vitamin B12, to study how they change over time and try to figure out how the diet affects them.

By the end of the trial, 435 of the participants died, 139 of them from cardiovascular diseases and 89 from cancer-related causes. This led researchers to believe that the Mediterranean diet has a positive effect by lowering mortality from most causes with the notable exception of cancer-related deaths, in elderly people.

The University of Barcelona's scientists believe that the research and the biomarker tests that they took during it can help them work out individualised dietary counselling for elderly people, who want to prolong their life.