Mediterranean diet helps older adults live longer lives with fewer heart issues
Following a Mediterranean diet can help older adults significantly decrease their risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, according to a new meta-analysis published in Nutrients.[1]
The Mediterranean diet, named after the traditional eating habits of Greece and Italy, is based on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and olive oil. While it primarily focuses on plant-based options, it permits fish, seafood, poultry and dairy products to be eaten occasionally.
“The Mediterranean diet is associated in the general population with a decreased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, but also of cardiovascular non-fatal events,” wrote Diana Lelli, MD, PhD, a researcher with Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, and colleagues. “Definitive data on the Mediterranean diet’s impact on older adults’ global health are conflicting, due to the fact that studies focusing on older adults have small sample sizes.”
Lelli et al. explored data from 28 different randomized clinical trials that covered nearly 680,000 participants from all over the world. All participants were older than 60 years old.
Overall, closely adhering to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 23% decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality, a 25% decrease in the risk of cardiovascular events, 27% decrease in the risk of cardiovascular mortality and 23% decrease in the risk of non-fatal cardiovascular events. The all-cause mortality benefit was also seen when only tracking patients over the age of 70.
“These results confirm previous findings indicating a reduced risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with a high adherence to the Mediterranean diet and extends them to older people,” the authors wrote.
The group noted that it did not identify a clear association between following the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular events when only tracking patients older than 70.
“A possible explanation is that all-cause mortality is a more reliable endpoint, making it less subject to bias,” the authors wrote. “The absence of statistical significance may also be partially explained by the limited number of studies available in this age group, which led to increased variability and wider confidence intervals while the point estimate remained substantially unmodified. Moreover, for cause-specific death, the accuracy of recording depends on the correct identification of the cause of death which may be more difficult to identify in older patients, due to multiple comorbidities.”
Lelli and colleagues concluded that following a Mediterranean diet “may contribute to better overall health and a lower likelihood of cardiovascular-related health issues in older individuals.”
Click here to read the full meta-analysis.
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