Academics studied almost 500 people between 95 and 109 and compared them with over 3,000 others born during the same period.
They found those who lived extremely long lives ate just as badly, drank and smoked just as much, took just as little exercise and were just as likely to be overweight as their long-gone friends.
The study was carried out by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who interviewed 477 very long lived Ashkenazi Jews.
Prof Nir Barzilai, director of the college's Institute of Ageing Research, said previous studies of this group had identified certain genes which protected them from the effects of a normal Western lifestyle.
This research, published today (Wednesday) in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, indicates it really is the genes that matter.
He explained that this study provided evidence that these and other "longevity genes" helped "to buffer them against the harmful effects of an unhealthy lifestyle".He said the first woman he interviewed, an 109-year-old, told him she had smoked 40 cigarettes a day for 90 years. While most people would have died of lung cancer or heart disease, she soldiered on.
Prof Barzilai emphasised that the research did not mean most people could live unhealthy lives and not expect to pay a price in the end.
He said: "Although this study demonstrates that centenarians can be obese, smoke and avoid exercise, those lifestyle habits are not good choices for most of us who do not have a family history of longevity.
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