title: Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses' Health Study: population based cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomere length, a biomarker of aging.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  4676 disease-free women from nested case-control studies within the Nurses' Health Study with telomere length measured who also completed food frequency questionnaires.
  
  
  METHODS
  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).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crous-Bou
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
authors.forename: Teresa T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Julin
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Mengmeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Rexrode
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Frank B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Immaculata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Vivo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015930:Diet Records; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016615:Telomere / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers