Eating More Mediterranean Linked to Lower Death Risk in 54 Studies
Graded Moderate — pooled data from 54 observational studies with over 1.8 million people; because no one was assigned a diet at random, cause and effect stay unproven.
- Design
- Meta-analysis
- Participants
- 1,833,267
- Duration
- —
- Funding
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People who followed a Mediterranean diet more closely had a 4 percent lower risk of dying for each extra point on the diet score.
The more closely people followed a Mediterranean diet, the lower their risk of dying. That pattern appeared in an analysis that pooled 54 studies with more than 1.8 million participants in total. Each extra point on a diet score went along with a 4 percent lower risk of dying during the follow-up.
The work was done for Italy's national dietary guidelines on the Mediterranean diet. The researchers searched four large medical databases for studies that had followed people over years. Those studies measured how Mediterranean someone's eating was with established point scores. Participants lived in many parts of the world and were followed for anywhere from 2 to 60 years. During that time, 346,034 of them died.
The researchers rate the certainty of their findings as moderate. They see the results as support for public health programs that promote the Mediterranean diet. Still, every included study only observed what people ate. So this analysis cannot prove that the diet itself is what lowers the risk of dying.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.