A diet high in whole grains, olive oil, fruit and vegetables can add years to your life.

New year, New diet??? Every year January seems to bring a rush of articles giving health tips, lifestyle advice and promoting the latest new diet promising you a slender figure and long life.

In amongst this seemingly endless supply of new information, what has become known as the 'Mediterranean Diet' continually reappears and is promoted as the blueprint to be followed if you wish to maintain good general health and lessen the possibility of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The latest research published by University of Gothenberg goes one step further in that it suggests that adopting the Mediterranean diet can not only help to maintain optimum health but may result in a longer life. This ‘H70’ study was started in 1971 and since that time has kept track of many thousands of 70 year olds, the results strongly suggest that those individuals who eat a diet high in vegetables and cereals, can expect to live an estimated two to three years longer than people whose diet contains larger quantities of meat and processed foods.

The potential health benefits which a diet abundant in vegetables and cereals could confer were first noted in the 1940s, however the term ‘Mediterranean Diet’ was first coined in the early 90s by Dr Walter Willett of Harvard who used it to describe the diet which was commonplace in Southern Italy and Greece at the time.

This Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is an easy to use guide to what is now generally accepted as the food regime most likely to promote all round good health giving particular protection against cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. In addition, by adopting the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ you can expect to lose weight and reach a healthy BMI provided food portions are monitored at the same time. To say nothing of the pleasure you will get from enjoying delicious fresh food, a far cry from the lacklustre ready meals which are now so commonplace.

Despite extensive research over the last 4 decades it has not been established quite why it is that this particular combination of food and drink seems to give such beneficial results, however the key concepts of the Mediterranean Diet are endorsed by both the UK government in its Change4Life campaign (ww.nhs.uk/change4life) and also by the World Health Organisation who have incorporated it into its global health strategy.

To follow the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ is an entirely different matter from going ‘on a diet’, an activity which is undertaken by thousands of people every day, and very often results in disappointment when old habits creep back. The ‘Mediterranean Diet’ does not require that you give up any foods or that you become particularly skilled in the kitchen.

Instead all that is needed is an adjustment to the proportions of the food groups with an emphasis on fruit, vegetable and non refined cereals, in addition you have the bonus of a daily glass of wine.

It is important to remember that food choices are only one part of the bigger picture which we need to be aware of when aiming for a healthy lifestyle, exercise is universally acknowledged as being another cornerstone of good health and regardless of age we are all encouraged to find an activity which we enjoy and are able to do regularly.

So why not make it your New Years resolution to walk home from the supermarket carrying fresh vegetables and get fit and ready for a fabulous 2012!