USC researchers link Mediterranean diet to higher protective mitochondrial microproteins
The gist
USC researchers found older adults who closely followed the Mediterranean diet had higher levels of humanin and SHMOOSE.
The work points to a possible biological pathway behind the diet's known health benefits.
How it unfolded
- 2025Temba et al. publish a randomized controlled trial in Nature Medicine in which healthy men aged 20-40 in Tanzania's Kilimanjaro region switched diets for two weeks.
- 2026de Mast Q, Brown CV, et al. publish a Nature Medicine paper on the World Diet Initiative, which studies vanishing dietary diversity.
- Oct 24, 2026USC researchers report that older adults who more closely followed the Mediterranean diet had higher levels of the mitochondrial microproteins humanin and SHMOOSE and lower indicators of oxidative stress.