Adopting Mediterranean lifestyle may lower the risk of all-cause and cancer mortality

Adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle – which includes a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, with limited amounts of added salts and sugars; and habits promoting adequate rest, physical activity, and socialization – is associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cancer mortality.

Likewise, adherence to the lifestyle’s emphasis on rest, exercise, and socializing is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. The new study, led by La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Multiple studies have established the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle, however little research has looked at the diet and lifestyle outside of its region of origin.
For the current study, researchers sought to examine the association between the Mediterranean lifestyle and all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in a British population.
Data was drawn from 110,799 individuals 40 to 75 years of age from the UK Biobank cohort, free of CVD or cancer between 2009 and 2012 who were followed-up to 2021.

The Mediterranean lifestyle was assessed at baseline through the Mediterranean Lifestyle (MEDLIFE) index, which is derived from a lifestyle questionnaire and diet assessments. Participants provided information about their lifestyle according to the three categories the index measures:

• “Mediterranean food consumption” (intake of foods part of the Mediterranean diet such as fruits and whole grains);

• “Mediterranean dietary habits” (adherence to habits and practices around meals, including limiting salt and drinking healthy beverages); and

• “physical activity, rest, and social habits and conviviality” (adherence to lifestyle habits including taking regular naps, exercising, and spending time with friends).

Each item within the three categories was then scored, with higher total scores indicating higher adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle.
During a median 9.4-year follow-up, 4247 total deaths, 2401 cancer deaths, and 731 CVD deaths were identified.
When these results were analyzed alongside MEDLIFE scores, the researchers observed an inverse association between adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle and risk of mortality. Participants with higher MEDLIFE scores were found to have a 29% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 28% lower risk of cancer mortality compared to those with lower MEDLIFE scores.

Adherence to each MEDLIFE category independently was associated with lower all-cause and cancer mortality risk. The “physical activity, rest, and social habits and conviviality” category was most strongly associated with these lowered risks, and additionally was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.

“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,” said lead author Mercedes Sotos Prieto, Ramon y Cajal research fellow at La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and adjunct assistant professor of environmental health at Harvard Chan School. “We’re seeing the transferability of the lifestyle and its positive effects on health.”