The role of Mediterranean diet adherence, smoking and their interactions in epigenetic age acceleration: A cross-sectional analysis of the Airwave cohort.

The study examined the impact of Mediterranean diet adherence and smoking on epigenetic clocks, which measure biological aging. The research included 928 participants with a mean age of 41 years, of which 59 percent were male. Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with lower epigenetic age acceleration, particularly for the GrimAge and Bernabeu epigenetic clocks. Smoking was strongly associated with increased epigenetic age acceleration, but this effect was smaller in people with higher Mediterranean diet adherence. Among individual foods, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains had the greatest protective effect. The results indicate that certain epigenetic clocks are sensitive enough to monitor how lifestyle factors modify molecular responses to environmental toxins.