Women Following Mediterranean Diet Live Longer

Women who follow a Mediterranean diet have higher chances of living a healthier, longer life, a new study suggests.

The study, conducted by researchers led by Cecilia Samieri  found that women following a healthy diet during midlife not only lived longer, but had lower chances of contracting chronic diseases, HealthDay reported. Samieri conducted the research while she was at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Bostonis. She is now a researcher at INSERM and Universite de Bordeaux, in France

 The study was based on medical records of 10,000 women who were a part of Nurses' Health Study.

"Women with healthier dietary patterns at midlife were 40 percent more likely to survive to age 70 or over," Samieri told Healthday.

This isn't the first time that a Mediterranean diet has been linked with health benefits. Previous research has shown that a diet high in fruits and vegetables prevents stroke in genetically at-risk people. Also, a good diet can lower risk of memory loss in older adults.

According to the American Heart Association, over half of fat calories in a Mediterranean diet come from monounsaturated fats (from olive oil). This type of fat is healthier than saturated fat found in the common American diet.

"The Mediterranean diet is characterized by greater intake of [fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains] and fish; lower intake of red and processed meats; moderate intake of alcohol; higher amounts of [monounsaturated fats, mostly provided by olive oil from Mediterranean countries]; and lower amounts of [saturated fats]," Samieri said, HealthDay reported

The study was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.