The Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of mortality in women. The latest research in chronological order to delve into the protective qualities of the ‘old knowledge’ diet of Italians and the populations of this area of the world is a work published on ‘Jama Network Open’, which focuses on the female universe.
The Mediterranean diet has marked the meals of generations of centenarians, has been celebrated internationally as a world heritage site and promoted by science. But the line of studies that aims to put in black and white the beneficial impact of the Mediterranean diet on human health continues today. According to the authors of the study published in ‘Jama Network Open’, “greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a 23% reduction in the risk of mortality from all causes” in women.
I study
Conducted in the USA, this cohort study is based on a population of 25,315 participants of the Women’s Health Study, healthy women at the start of the study – average age at baseline of 54.6 years – who had provided blood samples, biomarker measurements and information on diet.
Baseline data included demographic data and a validated food frequency questionnaire. The data collection period was from April 1993 to January 1996, and the data analysis took place from June 2018 to November 2023. The women were followed for 25 years. The Mediterranean diet score was calculated based on 9 dietary components. The analysis of scientists – experts from various institutions, from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, to the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, up to the universities of Uppsala in Sweden and the ETH in Zurich – was focused on 33 blood biomarkers, (such as lipid values, inflammation, insulin resistance and metabolism, and so on). Mortality and causes of death were determined from medical records and death records.
During follow-up, 3,879 deaths occurred. Compared to the low adherence to the Mediterranean diet (score 0-3), were observed reductions in the risk of mortality in those who had higher scores and therefore followed the principles of this diet more closely. Once further adjustments were made for lifestyle factors, these reductions remained statistically significant. Inflammatory biomarkers were among those that contributed most to the lower risk of mortality, followed by triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and body mass index and insulin resistance. The inverse association between greater adherence to the diet and lower risk of mortality (risk which is reduced by a fifth) was therefore partially explained by multiple cardiometabolic factors.
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