Study backs Mediterranean diet

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Researchers analysed existing studies on the health gains of eating a diet rich in in olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables and fish, but low in meat, dairy and alcohol.

The new study suggests that a "score" based on adherence to the Mediterranean diet could be used as a tool for helping cut the chance of people dying prematurely and from a range of diseases.

Experts from the University of Florence looked at 12 studies on more than 1.5 million people, whose health was followed for between three and 18 years.

All the studies included detail on a numerical score to estimate how much people stuck to the diet, called an "adherence score".

The combined results showed that strictly following a Mediterranean diet reduced the overall risk of dying early by 9%.

The chance of dying from cancer fell 6% and the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, by 9%.

The diet also resulted in a 13% reduction in the incidence of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the authors said: "Greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a significant improvement in health status.

"These results seem to be clinically relevant for public health, in particular for encouraging a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern for primary prevention of major chronic diseases."