WHEN American cardiologist Alan Maisel went on holiday to the village of Acciaroli on Italy's Amalfi coast a few years ago he was amazed to find that many of its inhabitants lived to a great age despite a lifestyle that broke all the health police's rules.

"I was at the beach and I saw all these leather-necked, tanned people in their 90s and 100s who looked nine months pregnant and were smoking cigarettes," he says. Determined to learn more about how these 20-a-day fatties appeared to have the secret of eternal youth, Dr Maisel – professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of San Diego – teamed up with researchers from the Sapienza University of Rome and embarked on a study of their way of life.

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Source: http://www.express.co.uk/