A new study published in the British Medical Journal highlights once again the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet in people who strictly follow it.

The study concluded that people who followed such a diet had a 9 percent drop in death from heart disease, a 13 percent reduction in incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and a 6 percent reduction in cancer compared to the other people.

“These results seem to be clinically relevant for public health, particularly for encouraging a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern for primary prevention of major chronic diseases,” said lead researcher Dr. Francesco Sofi, a clinical nutrition researcher, from the Department of Medical and Surgical Critical Area at the Thrombosis Centre at the University of Florence.

For the study, Dr. Sofi and colleagues analyzed data from 12 international papers on dietary habits and health, which involved 1,574,299 people.

The Mediterranean diet bases mostly on a high intake of fruits and vegetable, grains, fish and poultry, foods said to be high in antioxidants and omega 3, offering the body its most needed elements necessary in keeping it young and thus in preventing diseases.

“This review of 12 studies adds weight to growing evidence that a Mediterranean diet and regular exercise are the best ways to reduce your risk of developing diseases as we get older and helps us live longer,” Dr. Susanne Sorensen of the Alzheimer’s Society said, praising the results of the study.

“By improving diet, we would reach a significant improvement of health quality and duration of life,” Dr. Sofi said.