Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston evaluated the diets and medical records of 10,670 women who were in their late 50s or early 60s between 1984 and 1986.
After tracking the data for 15 years, the team found that women who followed a Mediterranean diet were 40 percent more likely to survive to age 70 or over without heart disease, diabetes, or other chronic disesase.
The study, funded by the US National Cancer Institute and the US National Institutes of Health, was published November 5 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.