(NewsNation) — Women who follow a Mediterranean diet are likely to live longer, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital followed and analyzed medical data from more than 25,000 U.S. women for up to 25 years, starting from when they were 56 years old on average. They found that women who had a larger Mediterranean diet intake had a “23% reduced risk of all-cause mortality.”
Mediterranean diets often consist of fresh seasonal fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, legumes, fish olive oil, monounsaturated fats, and lower consumption of red meat, according to the study.
The study indicated factors such as inflammation, insulin resistance, and body mass index contributed to this lower risk, with only “minimal contributions from standard cholesterol or glycemic measures.”
However, the study found that “most of the potential benefit of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and mortality remains unexplained.” Researchers suggest future research to explore “other pathways that might mediate the diet-associated lower mortality and examine cause-specific mortality.”