They live time-tested lifestyles that promise to protect us from a wide range of diseases. The key is knowing why they work and how to adopt them yourself.

Researchers have long tried to understand why some regions are much healthier than others. Epidemiological studies have looked at disease rates in conjunction with environmental and eating patterns in order to understand which factors are the most influential. This started in earnest in the 1980s, when researchers began studying the Mediterranean diet and found that it had significant health benefits. Additional researchers began employing a vast amount of data in the quest to determine what these people do that’s unique and how we can adapt their secrets to fit our lives.