Mediterranean diet could help women live longer, Harvard study finds

The Mediterranean diet has long been linked to a bevy of health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity and more — and now a new study has revealed a very specific new advantage for women.( )

In a long-running Harvard study published in JAMA Network Open, women who adhered to the heart-healthy, plant-focused diet were found to have a 23% lower risk of death from any cause.

The researchers attributed this lower mortality risk to improved cardiometabolic risk factors, according to the published study.( )

The study included data collected from 25,315 healthy women who participated in the Women’s Health Study over a period of 25 years, from April 1993 to January 1996. 

Their average age was 54.

Researchers analyzed the women’s blood samples, biomarker measurements and self-reported dietary information from June 2018 to Nov. 2023.( )

Previous studies have also found associations between the Mediterranean diet and increased longevity, the researchers noted.

Another meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies, which included 883,878 participants, reported that higher Mediterranean diet adherence was associated with 21% reduced risk of CVD mortality," they wrote.

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