In southern European countries, the "Mediterranean Diet" is widespread and lauded as a healthy way to eat. It’s caught on all over the world as well since it’s easy to stick to and has many benefits. It includes very little red meat, lots of veggies, lean fish, and plant-based food. It's been cited as one of the best ways to manage weight, stay in shape, and even hold off heart disease and dementia. A recent analysis of diet and mortality from the Neuromed Institute in Italy showed a correlation between adhering to a plant-based “Med diet” and living longer. Licia Iacoviello, head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology at the Neuromed Institute stated, “The more you follow the Mediterranean diet, the greater the gain in terms of mortality risk reduction.”
The study started by studying the dietary habits of more than 5,000 adults over 65 and scoring them based on how closely the participants followed a Mediterranean diet. The project followed the health of the study volunteers for eight years, and those who were the strictest with their food intake lived longer. The researchers took that data and added it into six other previous studies and found the same results. Those who stuck to the diet stayed healthier, had fewer signs of aging and lived longer
