There are lots of good reasons to try and follow a healthier diet.

You lose weight, you feel good, but the main reason, to live a longer, happier, more productive life.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

Today we feature some of the research on the influence of genetics on longevity and we start with a study of

thousands of twin pairs. It has long been said that the best hope for a long life

is to choose your parents wisely.

After all, doesn't longevity just run in the family?

Centinarians are people who live to be at least 100.

And their siblings are certainly more likely

to become centenarians themselves,

and the parents of centenarians

have been found to be more likely to have lived

to at least 90 years old. On the other hand, the lifespans of spouses

sometimes correlate as much or even more than those of genetic relatives. Your partner may have as much of an impact as your parent.

After all, genes aren't the only things that get passed down. Perhaps grandma's healthy recipes or even a lifelong love of running runs in the family too.

To tease out the role of genetics, researcher turned to twin studies, comparing differences between identical twins and fraternal twins.

For example, imagine you're trying to determine the role of genetics in cancer, the role played by genes versus other factors that we may have control over.

Since identical twins share 100% of their genes, whereas on average

regular twins only share 50%, if genes play a large role,

then you'd expect that identical twins would be more likely to share the same fate than fraternal

twins, right? If there was no difference in the chances that both

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