We all know that the Mediterranean diet keeps us healthy and can help us live longer. But there’s a ‘secret sauce’ to the diet that can supercharge those benefits.
Researchers have discovered that the lifestyle aspects of the Mediterranean—including adequate rest, physical activity, and socialising—are just as important as eating a healthy diet, and may even have a bigger impact than the food we eat on health and longevity.
Eating and living well—an approach known as the MedLife index—enhances the benefits, say researchers from Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health.
They analysed the diets and lifestyles of 110,799 people participating in the UK Biobank study for nine years; during the study, 4247 people had died, including 2401 from cancer and 731 from heart disease.
The researchers ranked the participants according to their MedLife index, and discovered those who followed the diet and lifestyle had a 29 percent lower risk of premature death and a 28 percent reduced chance of cancer.
Although the diet was important, the single most beneficial aspect of MedLife was the lifestyle habits of physical activity, rest, socializing and conviviality and these, on their own, had the biggest impact on longevity and health.
What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community
