# Healthy Eating Extends Life: Scientists Name Exact Figure

# Healthy Eating Can Add Up to Four Years of Life — Even Despite Genetics **A large-scale study involving more than 100,000 people has proven: a proper diet works regardless of which genes you inherited from nature.** An international team of scientists led by Yanlin Lv from Huazhong University of Science and Technology has made an important discovery in the field of longevity. The results of their work have been published in the authoritative journal Science Advances. The researchers turned to data from the British UK Biobank project — a unique database containing genetic and medical information on half a million volunteers. For more than ten years, specialists tracked the fate of over 100,000 participants, regularly recording information about their daily menus. Scientists evaluated each volunteer's diet according to five recognized healthy eating systems: the Mediterranean diet, the diabetes prevention diet, the DASH diet, a plant-based diet, and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI). Simultaneously, 19 genetic variants associated with longevity were analyzed. During the observation period, 4,314 participants passed away. By comparing all the data, the researchers calculated the potential life expectancy increase for a 45-year-old person when switching to healthy eating. **The winner was the AHEI index:** men who followed this system gained an average of 4.3 additional years of life, women — 3.2 years. The Mediterranean diet provided an increase of 2.2 years for men and 2.3 years for women. The diabetes prevention diet gave men 3 years, women — 1.7 years. A plant-based diet — 2.1 and 1.9 years respectively. The DASH diet — 1.9 and 1.8 years. The key finding of the study: the positive effect was maintained regardless of genetic predisposition to longevity. Even those with "unfavorable" genes received tangible benefits from proper nutrition. **The main allies of long-livers** turned out to be whole grain products, fruits, and vegetables — these were the predominant foods in the diets of participants with the best survival rates.