London - Scientists believe they have found the secret ingredient to health and longevity - and it is probably in your kitchen cupboard.
Far from just being an accompaniment to roast lamb or a flavour enhancer in soups, rosemary could be an elixir of life that helps people to live to 100 and beyond.
Consumption of the herb may also boost your memory as you get older and even help ward off dementia.
Experts are to investigate whether rosemary is behind the remarkable good health of the residents of Acciaroli, near Salerno in Italy. The coastal village is home to around 1 000 people - 300 of which are centenarians living in rude health.
The group are also free of heart conditions and Alzheimer’s disease.
While the fresh vegetables, olive oil and fish of the Mediterranean diet are renowned for boosting health, the researchers want to find out why this village has such a phenomenal number of elderly people.
And they suspect one answer may be their extensive use of rosemary in their cooking. The herb is liberally applied to healthy grilled fish, stews and pasta dishes in the region.
Rosemary - which grows abundantly in the area - has long been associated with keeping your memory into old age.
In recent years, intriguing research has found that a compound in rosemary oil called 1,8-cineole may boost a chemical in the brain called acetylcholine, which can help prevent dementia.
And there are many other health-giving properties attributed to the herb that may be giving the villagers a spring in their step.
Research by the University of Maryland suggests that long-term daily intake of rosemary can prevent thrombosis, and the herb has been linked to reducing stress as well as preventing diabetes.
Experts from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Rome, who are carrying out the study in Acciaroli, say that other influences such as the fresh ocean air and plentiful walking are also likely factors in their longevity.
Due to the location of the village, which is in a national park, travelling to work or going to the shops often means a hike through the mountains for residents.
San Diego doctor Dr Alan Maisel said: “We are the first group of researchers to be given permission to study this population.” During the six-month project, the teams will look at diet and lifestyle, take blood samples and distribute questionnaires to the 300 centenarians of Acciaroli.
Dr Maisel added: “The goal of this long-term study is to find out why this group of 300 is living so long by conducting a full genetic analysis and examining lifestyle behaviours, like diet and exercise.
“The results from studying the longevity of this group could be applied to our practice at UC San Diego and to patients all over the world.”
As well as the amazing health of the villagers, Acciaroli’s other claim to fame is the fact that the writer Ernest Hemingway stayed there after writing The Old Man and The Sea.
While many of the residents live to a ripe old age, in 2010 the mayor of the nearby town of Polica was gunned down in Acciaroli by the mafia, according to news reports.
Daily Mail