Simple lifestyle modifications drastically cut premature death risk - study
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By David Liu, Ph.D.
Friday, Aug 5, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study suggests living a healthy lifestyle like eating a Mediterranean diet may help reduce risk of premature death or mortality drastically.
The study showed women who ate a diet similar to the Mediterranean diet were at significantly lower risk of premature death.
P. A. van den Brandt of Maastricht University Medical Centre in Maastricht, Netherlands found the association after analysing data from 120,852 men and women ages 55 to 69, who were surveyed in 1986 for their dietary and lifestyle habits.
A lifestyle score was given each participant based on four lifestyle parameters. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet, nonsmoking, body normal weight with a body mass index 18.5 to 25 kg/m2 and regular physical activity each earned a participant one point. The total score ranged from 0 to 4 (least healthy to healthiest).
Participants were followed up until 1996. The researcher wanted to see how adherence to the Mediterranean diet and a healthy lifestyle affect total mortality.
In addition to the association between the Mediterranean diet and lower mortality, which was found significant only among women, the author found the lifestyle score was strongly inversely correlated with mortality in both men and women.
To be exact, women who got the highest score were four times as unlikely to die as those receiving the lowest score. Men who lived a healthiest lifestyle, meaning they got the highest lifestyle score, were twice as unlikely to die during the follow-up, compared with those who received the lowest score.
The study showed a healthiest lifestyle could mean an extension of life by 15.1 years in women and 8.4 years in men.
The study suggests that eating a Mediterranean diet, nonsmoking, maintaining a normal body weight and regular physical activity can substantially reduce the risk of premature death in both men and women.
The study was published in the July 2011 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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