We've all heard the phrase "you are what you eat", and there's solid science to back it up, with new evidence showing how many extra years you could add to your life by eating well.
The latest study, published in Science Advances, found that whole grains, fruits and vegetables showed the strongest link to a longer life.
Researchers led by Yanling Lv at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China dug into data from more than 100,000 people in the UK Biobank – that massive database holding detailed genetic and health records from 500,000 British volunteers.
The team tracked participants for just over a decade, regularly asking them what they'd eaten in the previous 24 hours.
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Fruits, vegetables and wholegrains have a strong link to a longer life
|GETTY
If you're wondering what to pile on your plate, the study found that whole grains, fruits and vegetables showed the strongest link to a longer life.
They then scored everyone's meals against five well-established healthy eating patterns: the Mediterranean diet (think healthy fats, fish and plenty of veg), the Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet (lots of fibre, not much sugar), the DASH diet designed to lower blood pressure, a plant-based approach, and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, known as AHEI.
On top of that, the researchers looked at 19 genetic markers linked to living longer – giving them a complete picture of both diet and DNA.
During the study, 4,314 participants passed away, which allowed the team to crunch the numbers on diet and lifespan.
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The AHEI diet came out on top, with data showing that a 45-year-old man following this eating pattern could expect to live 4.3 years longer than someone with the worst dietary habits. For women, that figure was 3.2 extra years.
The other diets showed benefits too, though not quite as dramatic. The Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet added 3 years for men and 1.7 years for women.
Mediterranean eating gave men 2.2 years and women 2.3 years, while plant-based diets offered around two years for both sexes.
Healthy dietary patterns prolong life expectancy regardless of genes
| GETTYThe DASH diet brought up the rear with gains of 1.9 years for men and 1.8 years for women.
And the benefits held true regardless of your genetic makeup, confirming that food choices matter enormously.
"Our findings underscore the advantages of healthy dietary patterns in prolonging life expectancy, regardless of longevity genes," the research team wrote in their paper.
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