This Small Italian Town Has the Most People Over 90 in the World. Their Secret Isn't the Pasta.

Tucked along the Mediterranean coast south of Naples, there is a tiny fishing village that has quietly been making scientists rethink everything they thought they knew about aging. The residents there are not doing anything dramatic. They are not taking expensive supplements or following trendy wellness protocols.

They are just eating the way they always have. And somehow, it is working better than almost anywhere else on Earth.

The Village That Baffled Researchers

The town is called Acciaroli, and the numbers are genuinely hard to believe. About one in ten residents is over ninety, and the village is home to nearly 300 people who have crossed the century mark, with roughly twenty percent of those reaching the age of 110.

What made scientists stop and pay attention is not just the numbers. The centenarians of Acciaroli have virtually no cataracts, few bone fractures, excellent heart health, and a remarkably low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. They are not just living long. They are living well.

The Herb That Changes Everything

Researchers from the University of California San Diego and Rome’s Sapienza University went in expecting to find a clean, disciplined Mediterranean diet. What they found instead was something far more specific.

A particularly pungent variety of locally grown rosemary, said to smell ten times stronger than the standard variety found in supermarkets, is a daily fixture in the diet. It goes into almost everything. Studies show rosemary can aid brain function, and researchers believe this hyperlocal variety may contain especially high concentrations of beneficial compounds.

The Anchovy Habit Nobody Expected

The second surprise came from the sea. Everybody ate anchovies, said Dr. Alan Maisel, the cardiologist leading the research. Not occasionally. Every single day, at almost every meal.

Anchovies are dense with omega-3 fatty acids, which support heart health, reduce inflammation, and protect the brain. Combined with sardines hauled fresh from the local waters, the town’s relationship with small oily fish is less a habit and more a way of life.

The Olive Oil Running Through It All

Then there is the olive oil, which flows through every meal in Acciaroli like a given. Research published in JAMA Network Open found that people who consumed more than seven grams of olive oil per day had a twenty-eight percent lower risk of dying from dementia compared to those who rarely or never used it.

Yale researchers have also identified phytochemicals in extra-virgin olive oil that appear to act similarly against Alzheimer’s disease protein networks as known pharmaceutical drugs. In Acciaroli, this is not a wellness trend. It is just lunch.

What the Scientists Think Is Really Going On

After studying the population extensively, the research team landed on a conclusion that is both simple and hard to argue with. An impressive ninety percent of the centenarians in the broader Cilento region follow the Mediterranean diet, rich in fresh vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and olive oil, with red meat eaten only in small amounts.

But Acciaroli takes it further. The food is hyperlocal, grown or caught within the village itself. The rosemary is wild and potent. The fish comes straight from the boats. Residents eat from their own back gardens daily and, as one ninety-four-year-old told researchers simply, the best thing is to be tranquil.

It turns out the fountain of youth was never a destination. It was a dinner plate, a handful of rosemary, and a fishing village that never stopped eating the way its grandparents did.