Why the Mediterranean Diet Is Not a Short-Lived Fad
The Mediterranean diet’s heavy-duty antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powers may lead to a longer, healthier life.
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The Mediterranean diet’s heavy-duty antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powers may lead to a longer, healthier life.
Eating Mediterranean-style could lead to a longer, healthier life. After analyzing the diets of more than 4,600 women, researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that those most loyal to the Mediterranean diet—which centers on vegetables and fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, and fish—possessed longer telomeres, the chromosomal caps that protect our DNA. See also Eat Your Way to Happy: The Mood-Boosting Benefits of Food Telomere length is a window on biological aging: Telomeres naturally shrink over time, but oxidative stress and inflammation speed that process. The Mediterranean diet’s heavy-duty antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powers may counter those shortening effects on telomeres, suggests the study, published in The British Medical Journal. That’s some delicious news!
