Carlos Solis
You probably know someone in your family who drank, smoked, and ate whatever they wanted—and still lived into a very old age. Those stories can make us feel like diet and other habits don’t matter. A large new study points the other way.
British researchers tracked more than 103,000 people for 10.6 years (during which they recorded 4,314 deaths) and compared diet quality with genetic predisposition to longevity.
As expected, people with “high” genetic scores had about a 15% lower risk of death during the study than those with “low” scores. The main discovery was different: the benefit people got from healthy diets showed almost no dependence on genetic risk. Whatever someone’s genes looked like, healthy diets helped and unhealthy ones harmed.
Five Diets Linked to Longer Life
The authors highlighted five eating patterns that correlated with better survival outcomes. They are:
- Mediterranean diet (AMED) — Focuses on olive oil, fish, and plenty of vegetables and legumes; it limits red meat and sometimes includes moderate red wine.
- Plant-based diet — Centers on foods from plants: vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes; it reduces animal products to lower saturated fat and increase fiber.
- DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) — Designed to lower blood pressure; it emphasizes potassium, magnesium, and calcium, keeps salt and sugar low, and prioritizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy.
- DRRD (Diet for Diabetes Risk Reduction) — This approach emphasizes low-glycemic foods that are high in fiber and polyunsaturated fats (for example, fish and olive oil) and cuts trans fats and sugary drinks.
- AHEI (Alternative Healthy Eating Index) — A scoring system researchers use to estimate chronic disease risk; it favors white meat (poultry, fish) over red meat and encourages regular intake of nuts and soy protein.
How These Diets Affect Life Expectancy
The researchers estimated the dietary impact for people aged 45 and older. For men, better diet quality translated to an extra 1.9–3.0 years of life compared with men with the lowest diet scores. For women, the projected benefit was 1.5–2.3 years.
The biggest potential gain for men showed up with the DRRD pattern. For women, an alternative Mediterranean-style diet produced the clearest benefit. The study also identified a strong link between higher fiber intake and longer life.
The eating patterns evaluated in the study share common features: more vegetables and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, high fiber, and minimal ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, and large amounts of red or processed meat.
These results add weight to earlier evidence that genetics are not destiny and that what we eat can shape both how long and how well we live.
Based on material from Science.
