Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

The mystery of longevity in Cilento: a mix of a good dose of genetic predisposition and a balanced diet based on the Mediterranean model

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 1020–1021 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Cilento is a rural and touristic area of Campania region in the Southern Italy, which is considered by scientists as the cradle of the Mediterranean Diet (MD), thanks to the local plantation of a great variety of fruits and vegetables that are at the basis of the traditional cooking, together with locally produced olive oil, wine and fish from the coastal towns. Such territory is characterized by the presence of a high number of long-living individuals (LLI) among the resident population, which often reach the highly desirable goal of the 100 candles. The Italian Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) basing on the data up to January 2016 www.ISTAT.it, leaves no more doubt: there are 183 centenarians in the Cilento and Diano’s Vallo territories, 143 females and 40 males. The question that intrigues scientists from all over the world is: what is the elixir of long-life, that has given precious years to Cilento’s population, allowing them to touch or exceed the century of life? Two main factors seem to play a key role in longevity: the genetic component and a balanced and healthy dietary pattern. In fact, it has been long talked about the health benefits of the MD and its protective effects against cardiovascular diseases, which are the main cause of death in the Western population. The healthy properties of the MD were first described by the American biologist and nutritionist Ancel Keys.1 The MD can certainly extend our life expectancy, put-backing the aging process, thanks to a high daily intake of substances with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity present in large quantities in the typical foods of the Mediterranean area. The MD is characterized by an adequately balanced combination of fruit, vegetables, fish, cereals and polyunsaturated fats, with a reduced consumption of meat and dairy products and moderate intake of alcohol, primarily locally produced red wine. The virtue of this diet lies in its ability to preserve the state of health and improve longevity; scientific evidence has shown that the adoption of the MD is a protective factor against the onset of various types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, aging and obesity.2 Numerous scientific studies have been conducted on the Cilento’s populations that has become like a magnet able to attract researchers from all over the world, an outdoor laboratory to study the contribution of diet, environment and genetic to life expectancy. To act as a wakeup call for scientists has been the comparison between the life expectancy of people in the United States, amounting to 78 years, and the average life expectancy in Cilento that is 92 years for women and 85 for men.3 The genomes of Cilento’s LLI have been indeed analyzed and reported at the University of Salerno, in cooperation with the US, where new studies emphasize the role of genes in determining the longevity of LLI. In particular, it has been highlighted the ability of a variant of the protein BPIFB4 (BPI fold containing family B member 4), associated to longevity, to qinduce an improvement of vascular function in aged individuals.4 It is well known that cardiovascular risk is markedly increased in aged individuals. The authors report a dysfunctional endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation, together with reduced eNOS phosphorylation in aged individuals, while BPIFB4 can restore endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, eNOS phosphorylation, reducing blood pressure levels.5 Among others studies an American research, recently conducted in collaboration with the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza,’ has allowed to monitor several biological parameters of Cilento’s population. This pilot study called CI.A.O (Cilento on Aging Outcomes) showed that the secret of longevity would lie in the microcirculation of the blood vessels, but no data have been published up to now.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Contaldo F, Scalfi L, Pasanisi F . Ancel keys centenary and the definition of healthy diet. Clin Nutr 2004; 23: 435–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Di Daniele N, Noce A, Vidiri MF, Moriconi E, Marrone G, Annicchiarico-Petruzzelli M et al. Impact of Mediterranean diet on metabolic syndrome, cancer and longevity. Oncotarget 2017; 8: 8947–8979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Grosso G, Buscemi S, Galvano F, Mistretta A, Marventano S, La Vela V et al. Mediterranean diet and cancer: epidemiological evidence and mechanism of selected aspects. BMC Surg 2013; 13 (Suppl 2), S14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Spinetti G, Sangalli E, Specchia C, Villa F, Spinelli C, Pipolo R et al. The expression of the BPIFB4 and CXCR4 associates with sustained health in long-living individuals from Cilento-Italy. Aging (Albany NY) 2017; 9: 370–380.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Villa F, Malovini A, Carrizzo A, Spinelli C, Ferrario A, Caciag A et al. Serum BPIFB4 levels classify health status in long-living individuals. Immun Ageing 2015; 12: 27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Liyanage T, Ninomiya T, Wang A, Neal B, Jun M, Wong MG et al. Effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular outcomes-a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 2016; 11: e0159252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Taormina G, Mirisola MG . Longevity: epigenetic and biomolecular aspects. Biomol Concepts 2015; 6: 105–117.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hardy TM, Tollefsbol TO . Epigenetic diet: impact on the epigenome and cancer. Epigenomics 2011; 3: 503–518.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Tejada S, Pinya S, Del Mar Bibiloni M, Tur JA, Pons A, Sureda A . Cardioprotective effects of the polyphenol hydroxytyrosol from olive oil. Curr Drug Targets 2016, e-pub ahead of print 5 October 2016.

  10. Thiel G, Rössler OG . Resveratrol regulates gene transcription via activation of stimulus-responsive transcription factors. Pharmacol Res 2017; 117: 166–176.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Boccardi V, Esposito A, Rizzo MR, Marfella R, Barbieri M, Paolisso G . Mediterranean diet, telomere maintenance and health status among elderly. PLoS One 2013; 8: e62781.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Buettner D . The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People who’ve Lived the Longest. National Geographic Books: Washington, DC, USA, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine Surgery and Dentistry ‘Medical School of Salerno’, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy

    M Bifulco & S Pisanti

  2. Corporea, Fondazione Idis Città della Scienza, Naples, Italy

    M Bifulco

Authors
  1. M Bifulco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S Pisanti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Bifulco.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bifulco, M., Pisanti, S. The mystery of longevity in Cilento: a mix of a good dose of genetic predisposition and a balanced diet based on the Mediterranean model. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 1020–1021 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.91

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.91

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links