Siestas, a health diet – and genetics – could explain why people on the tiny Aegean island of Ikaria live so long, said a recent study by Greek cardiologists.

“While in the rest of Europe only 0.1 per cent of the population is over 90 years old, in Ikaria the figure is tenfold, 1.1 per cent,” Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist at the Athens university school of medicine, told AFP.

The study was conducted from June to October 2009 on over 1,400 of the island’s some 8,000 residents, divided into elderly and middle-aged groups and assessing lifestyle, diet, clinical and other factors.

Thirteen per cent of those polled were over 80 years old, while 1.6 per cent of men and 1.1 per cent of women were over 90.

“Fish, fruit, vegetables, legumes and tea shield the cardiovascular system. Moreover, daily use of olive oil is beneficient to sexual activity and, if added to the moderate consumption of coffee in the afternoon ‘siesta’, form the ingredients that may compose the secret of longevity,” the researchers said.