The secret to living past 90 might not be what you eat—but what your gut bacteria are doing behind the scenes.

Other research shows that people who live past 90 or even 100 do have distinct gut bacteria compared to their peers who don’t live as long—specifically, they tend to have less of certain bacteria and more efficient cellular cleanup systems. What’s surprising is that this pattern shows up regardless of whether they ate yogurt, fiber, or took probiotics, suggesting it’s not about diet alone. But these findings come from small, specific groups of long-lived people, and we still don’t know if these bacteria cause longer life or just come along with it. The post’s claim about 'destroying' something daily is catchy, but the evidence doesn’t say what that thing is.