Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study

doi:10.1136/bmj.g6674

. 2014 Dec 2:349:g6674.

doi: 10.1136/bmj.g6674.

Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study

Marta Crous-Bou¹, Teresa T Fung², Jennifer Prescott³, Bettina Julin¹, Mengmeng Du⁴, Qi Sun⁵, Kathryn M Rexrode⁶, Frank B Hu⁷, Immaculata De Vivo⁸

Affiliations

¹ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
² Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
³ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁴ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA nhidv@channing.harvard.edu.
⁵ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
⁶ Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
⁷ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
⁸ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA nhidv@channing.harvard.edu.

PMID: 25467028
PMCID: PMC4252824
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.g6674

Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study

Marta Crous-Bou et al. BMJ. 2014.

. 2014 Dec 2:349:g6674.

doi: 10.1136/bmj.g6674.

Authors

Marta Crous-Bou¹, Teresa T Fung², Jennifer Prescott³, Bettina Julin¹, Mengmeng Du⁴, Qi Sun⁵, Kathryn M Rexrode⁶, Frank B Hu⁷, Immaculata De Vivo⁸

Affiliations

¹ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
² Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
³ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁴ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA nhidv@channing.harvard.edu.
⁵ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
⁶ Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
⁷ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
⁸ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA nhidv@channing.harvard.edu.

PMID: 25467028
PMCID: PMC4252824
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.g6674

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomere length, a biomarker of aging.

Design: Population based cohort study.

Setting: Nurses' Health Study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of 121,700 nurses enrolled in 1976; in 1989-90 a subset of 32,825 women provided blood samples.

Participants: 4676 disease-free women from nested case-control studies within the Nurses' Health Study with telomere length measured who also completed food frequency questionnaires.

Main outcome measure: Association between relative telomere lengths in peripheral blood leukocytes measured by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and Alternate Mediterranean Diet score calculated from self reported dietary data.

Results: Greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomeres after adjustment for potential confounders. Least squares mean telomere length z scores were -0.038 (SE 0.035) for the lowest Mediterranean diet score groups and 0.072 (0.030) for the highest group (P for trend = 0.004).

Conclusion: In this large study, greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomeres. These results further support the benefits of adherence to the Mediterranean diet for promoting health and longevity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: no support from any organization for the submitted work other than those described above; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

None — Multivariable adjusted least square means of leukocyte telomere length z scores (and their corresponding confidence intervals) by diet score quarters. All dietary patters are represented: prudent pattern, Western pattern, Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) score, and Alternate Mediterranean Diet (AMED) score

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Comment in

Mediterranean diet and telomere length.
Nilsson PM. Nilsson PM. BMJ. 2014 Dec 2;349:g6843. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g6843. BMJ. 2014. PMID: 25467755 No abstract available.
[Telomere length and Mediterranean diet - a clear association].
Steurer J. Steurer J. Praxis (Bern 1994). 2015 Feb 25;104(5):255. doi: 10.1024/1661-8157/a001940. Praxis (Bern 1994). 2015. PMID: 25711790 German. No abstract available.

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References

1. Willett WC, Sacks F, Trichopoulou A, Drescher G, Ferro-Luzzi A, Helsing E, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. Am J Clin Nutr 1995;61(6 suppl):1402-6S. - PubMed
1. Trichopoulou A, Costacou T, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. N Engl J Med 2003;348:2599-608. - PubMed
1. Fung TT, Rexrode KM, Mantzoros CS, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Circulation 2009;119:1093-100. - PMC - PubMed
1. Lopez-Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Li TY, Fung TT, Li S, Willett WC, et al. The Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and mortality among men and women with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2014;99:172-80. - PMC - PubMed
1. Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvado J, Covas MI, Corella D, Aros F, et al. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet. N Engl J Med 2013;368:1279-90. - PubMed

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[1] Willett WC, Sacks F, Trichopoulou A, Drescher G, Ferro-Luzzi A, Helsing E, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. Am J Clin Nutr 1995;61(6 suppl):1402-6S. - PubMed

[2] Willett WC, Sacks F, Trichopoulou A, Drescher G, Ferro-Luzzi A, Helsing E, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. Am J Clin Nutr 1995;61(6 suppl):1402-6S. - PubMed

[3] Trichopoulou A, Costacou T, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. N Engl J Med 2003;348:2599-608. - PubMed

[4] Trichopoulou A, Costacou T, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. N Engl J Med 2003;348:2599-608. - PubMed

[5] Fung TT, Rexrode KM, Mantzoros CS, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Circulation 2009;119:1093-100. - PMC - PubMed

[6] Fung TT, Rexrode KM, Mantzoros CS, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Circulation 2009;119:1093-100. - PMC - PubMed

[7] Lopez-Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Li TY, Fung TT, Li S, Willett WC, et al. The Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and mortality among men and women with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2014;99:172-80. - PMC - PubMed

[8] Lopez-Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Li TY, Fung TT, Li S, Willett WC, et al. The Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and mortality among men and women with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2014;99:172-80. - PMC - PubMed

[9] Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvado J, Covas MI, Corella D, Aros F, et al. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet. N Engl J Med 2013;368:1279-90. - PubMed

[10] Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvado J, Covas MI, Corella D, Aros F, et al. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet. N Engl J Med 2013;368:1279-90. - PubMed

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Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study

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Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study

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