The Mediterranean diet: a pathway to successful aging.

The Mediterranean diet has long been known for its health benefits. As early as during the 1950s, Ancel Keys, an American researcher who studied the infuence of the diet on health, championed the utility of the Mediterranean diet in keeping serum cholesterol levels down and in reducing myocardial infarction risk. In 1970, Ancel Keys published the fndings of the “Seven Country Study”, which investigated diet+lifestyle+other risk factors for cardiovascular disease across several countries and cultures over an extended period of time, in an article in the prestigious journal Circulation. The study clearly demonstrated that coronary heart disease (CHD) in the men between 40 and 59 living in seven diferent countries was signifcantly associated with the type of diet they were following and, in particular, to the saturated fat content of the diet. Compared to the individuals following a Mediterranean-type diet, who showed a relatively low incidence of CHD (Greece=32 cases/10,000/year; Yugoslavia=53 cases/10.000/year; Italy = 100 cases/10,000/year), men living in the United States and Finland, countries where a (western) diet high in saturated fat was predominantly followed, showed a signifcantly higher incidence of CHD, which reached 177 and 198 cases/10,000/year, respectively. Further studies showed that the Mediterranean diet could prevent and manage not only diseases of the cardiovascular system, but many others as well, including diabetes, hypertension, cancer, thrombosis and neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia.