Mediterranean diet: Women live longer, study finds [Video]

Women who closely followed a Mediterranean diet lived much longer than those who did not, according to a new study that followed more than 25,000 women for 25 years.

“For women interested in longevity, our study shows that following a Mediterranean dietary pattern could result in about one-quarter reduction in risk of death over more than 25 years with benefit for both cancer and cardiovascular mortality, the top causes of death,” senior study author Dr. Samia Mora, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in an email.

The Mediterranean diet features simple, plant-based cooking, with much of each meal focused on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds, with a few nuts and a heavy emphasis on extra-virgin olive oil. Fats other than olive oil, such as butter, are consumed rarely, if at all, and sugar and refined …