According to a massive release of data this week comparing health stats of 187 countries around the globe, Spain ranks as Europe's healthiest country, thanks to the Mediterranean diet, researchers suggested.

Spaniards can expect to live 70.9 years of healthy life before disease, followed by Italy at 70.2 years and Australia in third place. The US came in 17th, while the UK came in 18th, according to the Global Post.

The research comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle, which compared health data from the past 20 years. The researcher examined countries' mortality and disability rates from 291 disease and injuries, as well as 67 risk factors for 20 age groups around the world.

http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org

Spaniards can expect to live 70.9 years of healthy life before disease, followed by Italy at 70.2 years and Australia in third place. The US came in 17th, while the UK came in 18th, according to the Global Post.

The research comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle, which compared health data from the past 20 years. The researcher examined countries' mortality and disability rates from 291 disease and injuries, as well as 67 risk factors for 20 age groups around the world.

http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org