Our results showed that the longevity-associated dietary pattern had moderate intakes of whole grains, fruit, fish and white meat; a high intake of milk and dairy, vegetables, nuts and legumes; a relatively low intake of eggs, red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages; and a low intake of refined grains and processed meat (Fig. 1). Analyses adjusting also for body mass index and energy (Supplementary Information) showed slight reductions in inverse associations with mortality for whole grains, vegetables and fruits, reductions in positive associations with mortality for red meat, and stronger inverse associations for both nuts and white meat. For several of the food groups associated with reduced mortality, the lowest intake quintiles were substantially different from the other quintiles. The unhealthy dietary pattern (that is, the quintile with the highest mortality associations) contained no or limited amounts of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, fish, milk and dairy, and white meat and substantial intakes of processed meat, eggs, refined grains and sugar-sweetened beverages. The strongest positive associations with mortality were for sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meat, while the strongest inverse associations with mortality were for whole grains and nuts.
We present life expectancy estimates with uncertainty intervals (UI, indicating the lowest and highest population means that are likely) associated with various dietary patterns in Fig. 2, Table 1 and Supplementary Information. The life expectancy (that is, the estimated remaining years to live) of a 40-year-old with a median dietary pattern was 44.7 years for females and 41.5 years for males. Similarly, the life expectancy of a 70-year-old with a median dietary pattern was 17.6 years for females and 15.5 years for males. Estimated gains from simulated sustained dietary change from a median UK diet pattern to the longevity-associated diet pattern were 3.1 years (UI 1.3–4.9 years) for 40-year-old females and 3.4 years (UI 1.4–5.3 years) for 40-year-old males. Correspondingly, for sustained change to the Eatwell dietary pattern, estimated gains were 1.3 years (UI 0.1–2.4 years) for females and 1.4 years (UI 0.1–2.6 years) for males. Estimated gains from sustained dietary changes from an unhealthy UK diet pattern to the longevity-associated diet pattern were 10.4 years (UI 8.2–11.3 years) for 40-year-old females and 10.8 years (UI 8.8–12.0 years) for 40-year-old males. Correspondingly, estimated gains from sustained dietary changes from an unhealthy UK diet pattern to the longevity-associated diet pattern were 5.4 years (UI 4.4–6.0 years) for 70-year-old females and 5.0 years (UI 4.2–5.6 years) for 70-year-old males.
