Longevity in elderly Greek migrants to Australia may be explained by adherence to a traditional Greek Mediterranean diet?
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Date
2015
Authors
Kouris-Blazos, Antigone
Itsiopoulos, Catherine
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand
Rights
© 2015, Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
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Abstract
Between 1988 and 1991 data were collected on diet, health and lifestyle on 818 people
aged 70 and over from countries/cultures experiencing longevity: Swedes, Greeks,
Australians (Greeks and Anglo-Celts) and Japanese. This was known as the Food Habits
in Later Life study (FHILL). Subjects from these 5 cohorts were followed up for 5–7
years to determine survival status and to examine the effect of diet and lifestyle variables
on longevity. The FHILL study was the first to develop a score which captured
the key features of a traditional plant-based Mediterranean diet pattern (MDPS). A
higher score (i.e greater adherence to this dietary pattern) improved overall survival in
both Greek and non-Greek elderly reducing the risk of death by 50% after 5–7 years.
Of the 5 cohorts studied, first generation elderly Greeks in Australia had the lowest
risk of death, even though they had the highest rates of obesity and other cardiovascular
disease (CVD) risk factors (developed in the early years of migration with the
introduction of energy dense foods). This was called a “Greek migrant Morbidity
Mortality Paradox”. Greek migrants appeared to be “getting away” with these CVD
risk factors because of their continued adherence to a Mediterranean diet, especially
legumes. This paper reviews a) the findings from the FHILL study b) other studies on
Greek migrants to Australia c) clinical studies investigating possible mechanisms. We
propose that the Mediterranean diet may be operating to reduce the risk of death and
attenuate established CVD risk factors by beneficially altering the gut microbiome.
Description
Keywords
Greek studies, Older migrants, Food and diet, Health
Citation
Kouris-Blazos, A. and Itsiopoulos, C., 2015. Longevity in elderly Greek migrants to Australia may be explained by adherence to a traditional Greek Mediterranean diet? In: M. Tsianikas, G. Couvalis and M. Palaktsoglou (eds.) "Reading, interpreting, experiencing: an inter-cultural journey into Greek letters". Modern Greek Studies Association of New Zealand, 217-238.