Traditional Mediterranean diet and longevity in the elderly: a review.

5 Repeated evidence

What this means for you: this is established.

Type of study: meta-analysis or systematic review
Studied in: people
Participants: not stated in the abstract
Published: 2005 in Public health nutrition
Cited: 50 times by other research
Who paid: Not declared. PubMed carries no conflict-of-interest statement for most articles; that is not the same as independent.
Source: PubMed 15482622 · doi 10.1079/phn2004558

The plain-language write-up of this study is still being written. Below is the abstract exactly as the researchers published it.

Abstract by the researchers — original text

OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence that the traditional Mediterranean diet is associated with longevity. SETTING: Elderly persons of both genders in Greece, Spain, Denmark and Australia studied by different groups of investigators. METHODS: Adherence to the principles of the Mediterranean diet was operationalised through a score devised a priori, and study participants were followed up until death or the end of the study. Proportional hazard models were used. RESULTS: Closer adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a significant decrease in general mortality among the elderly persons studied. CONCLUSION: The Mediterranean diet is positively associated with longevity among the elderly. If the assumption holds that there is no interaction between age and diet with respect to general mortality, it can be inferred that the traditional Mediterranean diet represents a healthy nutritional pattern.