A decade ago that the Mediterranean diet was declared intangible heritage of humanity and the benefits of this feeding are now associated with intestinal microbiome and its influence on a healthy aging.
Following a Mediterranean diet for a year enhances the types of intestinal bacteria related to aging healthy in addition to reducing those associated with inflammation harmful in old people, according to a study published by the group’s Gut magazine The British Medical Journal.
Aging is associated with the deterioration of the bodily functions and an increase in inflammation, which announce the appearance of the fragility, but the Mediterranean diet act on intestinal bacteria so that “it would help curb the advance of physical and cognitive frailty related to old age,” the researchers suggest.
The results do not establish a causal role of microbiome in health and some of the implications are inferred instead of being measured directly, warn the researchers, who point out that the interaction between diet, microbiome Y Health of the person “It is a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors.”
The team led by Paul OToole of the University of Cokc (Ireland), studied if one Mediterranean diet could keep the microbiome in the intestine of the elderly and promote retention and even the proliferation of the bacteria associated with the healthy aging.
For this they analyzed the intestinal microbiome of 612 people between 65 and 79 from France, Italy, Holland, Poland and the United Kingdom, divided into two groups and which were followed for a year before and after starting the diet.
One group continued with their usual diet and the other with one mediterranean food specially designed for old people, rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, olive oil and fish and low in red meat and saturated fats.
