n
A Mediterranean lifestyle with good food, friends and plenty of rest can reduce your risk of premature death by 29 percent.
It’s long been known that a Mediterranean diet is healthy because of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but a new study suggests Britons may be able to live longer by also copying other habits of people in countries like Italy and Spain.
Researchers surveyed 110,799 people in the UK aged 40 to 75 about their diet and lifestyle.
A Mediterranean lifestyle was defined as sleeping six to eight hours, socializing with friends and family, not sitting too long, exercising, exercising with other people, and taking naps.
The Mediterranean diet included a lot of fruits, vegetables, seafood and nuts and had a limited salt intake.
A new study suggests Britons could live longer by also copying other habits of people in the Mediterranean (Stock)
The Mediterranean diet included a lot of fruits, vegetables, seafood and nuts and had a limited salt intake
The study’s senior author, Dr Mercedes Sotos Prieto, said: ‘It is possible for non-Mediterranean populations to adopt the Mediterranean diet using locally available products’
A Mediterranean lifestyle was defined as sleeping six to eight hours, socializing with friends and family, not sitting still for too long, exercising, exercising with other people and taking naps.
People were given a score out of 25 for how much they followed a Mediterranean way of life.
The study, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, then compared these scores among people who died after tracking their medical records over several years.
Those with the most Mediterranean lifestyle were 29 percent less likely to die than those with the least Mediterranean lifestyle, and 28 percent less likely to die from cancer.
They were also less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
The study’s senior author, Dr Mercedes Sotos Prieto, of the Autonomous University of Madrid and Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, said: ‘This suggests that it is possible for non-Mediterranean populations to adopt the Mediterranean diet. take using locally available products and overall lifestyle.’
Unfortunately for siesta fans, naps alone were not linked to a lower chance of dying. This may be because people who nap in the UK often do so because they are sleep deprived or in poor health.
Questions asked in the study included whether people socialized and whether they drank healthy tea and coffee, sugary drinks, limited snacks and preferred whole grains.