Adherence to Mediterranean Lifestyle May Be Associated With Lower Risk of All Cause and Cancer Mortality

Patients who adhere to a Mediterranean lifestyle may have a lower risk of all-cause and cancer mortality, according to a recent study published by Maroto-Rodriguez et al in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The new findings also indicated that patients who followed the lifestyle’s emphasis on rest, exercise, and socialization had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.

Background

The Mediterranean lifestyle includes a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; limited intake of added salt and sugars; and adequate physical activity, rest, and socialization. Although previous studies have established the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle, little research has been conducted on the diet outside of its region of origin.

Study Methods and Results

In the new study, the investigators used the Mediterranean Lifestyle (MEDLIFE) index—which is derived from a lifestyle questionnaire and diet assessments—to analyze the habits and health outcomes of 110,799 patients aged 40 to 75 years from the UK Biobank cohort. They then scored three categories measured by the MEDLIFE index regarding the patients’ lifestyle information: Mediterranean food consumption; Mediterranean dietary habits; and physical activity, rest, and social habits and conviviality. The investigators noted that higher total scores indicated higher adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle.

After a follow-up of 9 years, the investigators discovered that 4,247 patients died from all causes, 2,401 patients died from cancer, and 731 patients died from cardiovascular disease. Analyzing these results alongside the MEDLIFE scores, the investigators observed an inverse association between adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle and risk of mortality. The patients who had higher MEDLIFE scores were found to have a 29% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 28% lower risk of cancer mortality compared with those who had lower MEDLIFE scores.

Adherence to each MEDLIFE category independently was associated with lower all-cause and cancer mortality risk. The investigators emphasized that the physical activity, rest, and social habits and conviviality category was most strongly associated with these lowered risks as well as a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.

Conclusions

“This study suggests that it’s possible for non-Mediterranean populations to adopt the Mediterranean diet using locally available products and to adopt the overall Mediterranean lifestyle within their own cultural contexts,” underscored lead study author Mercedes Sotos-Prieto, PhD, a Ramon y Cajal research fellow at La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “We’re seeing the transferability of the lifestyle and its positive effects on health,” she concluded.

Disclosure: The research in this study was funded by the Carlos III Health Institute; the Secretary of R+D+I; the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund; the National Plan on Drugs; Fundación Soria Melguizo; the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; the Cancer Research UK Population Research Fellowship; and the World Cancer Research Fund. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit mayoclinicproceedings.org.

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