A new study connects five healthy dietary patterns to longer life expectancy.For men, the Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet helped them gain up to three extra years of life.For women, the Mediterranean diet supported gaining an extra 2.3 years of life.
You’ve probably heard that eating well can help you live longer, but sometimes it’s hard to tell just how much of a difference it actually makes. And even when you do want to rethink your diet, it can be difficult to choose the eating pattern that’s right for you.
Past research has shown that well-known dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet and plant-based eating plans are associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases and premature death. But few studies have looked at how these eating patterns relate to actual life expectancy—measured in years gained, not just percentage-point drops in risk. That’s an important distinction, because knowing you might gain a few extra years can be more tangible and motivating than understanding abstract statistics.
Another big question is whether genetics play a role. Some people seem predisposed to live longer thanks to certain longevity-related genes, so researchers wanted to know: Can a healthy diet extend your life even if you didn’t win the genetic lottery? A new large-scale study published in Science Advances aimed to answer these questions by examining five popular healthy dietary patterns and their link to both mortality and life expectancy. Let’s break down what they found.
How Was This Study Conducted?
These researchers undertook a prospective cohort study, which means researchers followed a large group of people over time to see how their diets affected their health outcomes. The data came from the UK Biobank, a major long-term study that tracks the health and lifestyle information of more than half a million people in the United Kingdom.
For this analysis, researchers included 103,649 participants who had completed at least two dietary assessments using a 24-hour dietary questionnaire. The average age was about 58, and roughly 56% of participants were female. People who had already been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or cancer were excluded from the study.
Researchers scored each participant’s diet according to five well-established healthy eating patterns:
Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)
Alternate Mediterranean Diet score (AMED)
Healthful Plant-based Diet Index (hPDI)
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)
Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet (DRRD)
Each of these scoring systems evaluates how closely a person’s eating habits align with a particular dietary pattern, with higher scores indicating healthier eating.
Participants were followed for a median of about 10.6 years, during which 4,314 deaths were documented. Researchers accounted for a wide range of other factors that can affect life span, including age, sex, smoking status, physical activity, body mass index, education level and existing health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. They also looked at participants’ genetic data to assess whether longevity-related genes influenced the results.
What Did the Study Find?
Closely following any of the five healthy dietary patterns was linked to a lower risk of dying. People who scored in the top 20% for diet quality had an 18% to 24% lower overall risk of death compared to those in the bottom 20%. Among the five patterns, the Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet showed the strongest association with reduced mortality risk.
When researchers translated these findings into years of life, the differences were meaningful. At age 45, men who ate the healthiest diets gained between 1.9 and 3.0 extra years of life compared to men with the lowest diet quality. For women, the gain was between 1.5 and 2.3 years. The greatest life expectancy boost for men came from the Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet (3.0 years), while women benefited most from the Mediterranean diet (2.3 years).
The researchers also examined whether these benefits held up when accounting for genetics. They used a polygenic risk score, which was based on 19 gene variants associated with longevity, to categorize participants as having a low, intermediate or high genetic predisposition to a long life. They found that healthy eating was linked to longer life expectancy regardless of whether someone carried longevity genes. In other words, you don’t need to have “good genes” to benefit from a healthy diet.
There are some important limitations to keep in mind. First, this study was observational, meaning it can show an association between diet and longevity but can’t prove cause and effect. Diet information was self-reported through 24-hour recall questionnaires, which can be imprecise. The study was also limited to mostly white, European participants, so the results may not apply to other populations. And while researchers adjusted for many factors, there’s always the possibility that unmeasured variables could have played a role.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
You might be wondering what exactly the Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet (DRRD) is. The DRRD is a research tool that originated back in 2015—those who follow the diet closely eat plenty of cereal fiber, nuts and coffee, and they eat more polyunsaturated fats than saturated fats. You can also score a higher DRRD score by eating very little trans fat, sugar-sweetened beverages and red and processed meats.
But the most reassuring takeaway from this study is that you don’t need to follow one specific “perfect” diet to reap longevity benefits. All five dietary patterns studied were linked to living longer, which means you have flexibility to choose an eating style that works for your preferences, culture and lifestyle. What matters most is the overall quality of your diet rather than following a rigid set of rules.
Despite their differences, these diets share several common threads. If you’re looking to align your eating habits with the patterns linked to longer life, here are some practical steps to consider:
Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. All five diets emphasize these fiber-rich, nutrient-dense foods. Try adding an extra serving of vegetables to your lunch and dinner or swapping refined grains for whole-grain options like brown rice, whole-wheat pasta or oats.
Include nuts, seeds and healthy fats. The Mediterranean diet and other patterns in this study encourage unsaturated fats from sources like olive oil, nuts and avocados. A handful of almonds or walnuts makes an easy snack that supports heart health.
Cut back on sugar-sweetened beverages. The study found that sugar-sweetened beverages had the strongest link to increased mortality risk among all food groups examined. Swapping soda or sweetened coffee drinks for water, sparkling water or unsweetened tea may be a simple but effective change.
Prioritize fiber. Among all food components, dietary fiber showed the strongest association with reduced mortality risk. Good sources include beans, lentils, berries, broccoli, whole grains and chia seeds.
Don’t stress about perfection. Even modest improvements in diet quality were associated with benefits in this study. Small, consistent changes—like cooking one more meal at home each week or choosing fruit instead of a processed snack—can add up over time.
Our Expert Take
A new study in Science Advances found that closely following any of five healthy dietary patterns—the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, a healthful plant-based diet, the Alternate Healthy Eating Index or the Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet—was associated with a lower risk of death and a longer life expectancy. Men who ate the healthiest diets gained up to three extra years of life at age 45, while women gained up to 2.3 years. Encouragingly, these benefits persisted regardless of a person’s genetic predisposition to a longer or shorter life span. The big takeaway? You have plenty of flexibility when it comes to choosing a healthy eating pattern—what matters most is the overall quality of your diet.
