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Dietary balance, physical activity, fulfilling social relationships, and of course the art of siesta… The Mediterranean way of life seems to tick all the boxes for enjoying a pleasant quality of life. But is it really beneficial for health? Yes, according to a new study that looked at the potential benefits of such an art of living, and this among participants who do not live in the said region. A first.
There are countless scientific studies that have examined the virtues of the Mediterranean diet, which is characterized in particular by a healthy and balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and embellished with whole starches, vegetable oils, and fatty fish, to the detriment of meat. , fatty products and salt. But a team of researchers from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health decided this time to broaden their research to the Mediterranean lifestyle as a whole. Interestingly and unprecedented, scientists have analyzed the lifestyle habits and data of people not living in the Mediterranean basin.
Assessing the impact of the Mediterranean way of life…far from the Mediterranean
This work included 110,799 participants aged 40 to 75 from the UK Biobank cohort, and therefore from England, Wales and Scotland – i.e. countries far from the Mediterranean rim. The researchers used the Mediterranean lifestyle index (MEDLIFE) to determine the habits of the panel on very specific criteria: consumption of foods from the Mediterranean diet, respect for the practices of a Mediterranean lifestyle around meals, physical activity, social habits, or rest time.
The whole allowing to obtain a score testifying – or not – of an adhesion to such a way of life. Data that was coupled with those from the health monitoring of participants, nine years after the start of this research.
Lower mortality risk
Published in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the study reveals that adopting a Mediterranean lifestyle, therefore based on a healthy and balanced diet with more fruits, vegetables and cereals and a limitation of added salts and sugars, but also on habits that promote rest , physical activity, and rich social relationships, was associated with a lower risk of mortality. In detail, participants who adhered to this lifestyle had a 29% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 28% lower risk of cancer mortality compared to those who did not embrace these Mediterranean habits. Each part of this lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, but the researchers point out, however, that the category ‘physical activity, rest, social habits and conviviality’ is the one that induced the greatest profits.
Multiple health benefits
“This study suggests that it is possible for non-Mediterranean populations to adopt the Mediterranean diet using locally available products and to adopt the Mediterranean way of life within their own cultural context. We find that this way of life is transferable and that it has positive effects on health”explains Dr. Mercedes Sotos Prieto, the main author of this research, in a press release. This is the first work showing the benefits of this lifestyle on life expectancy outside the region concerned.
However, many studies have already highlighted the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Among the latest to date, two studies have found that it may be beneficial in preventing the risk of dementia and cardiovascular disease and that it may limit the harmful effects of passive smoking. Looking at the Mediterranean way of life as a whole, a recent study by researchers from University College London (UCL) and the Universidad de la Republica de Montevideo in Uruguay indicated that a few minutes of siesta per day were beneficial to brain health.
Slide: 8 Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet