George Johnson, considered California’s oldest living person at 112 and the state’s last surviving World War I veteran, died last week of pneumonia. The irony is that he was well-known to food experts for his bad-eating habits which did not seem to contribute to his death.

“He had terrible bad habits. He had a diet largely of sausages and waffles,” said Dr. L. Stephen Coles, founder of the Gerontology Research Group at the University of California, Los Angeles. The autopsy revealed his organs were extremely youthful; apart from the pneumonia he had no diseases. “A lot of people think or imagine that your good habits and bad habits contribute to your longevity,” Coles said. “But we often find it is in the genes rather than lifestyle.”

This does not mean people now have an excuse to start smoking, eat pizza every day, and sit on the couch if their grandparents lived a long life. And don’t fret if you think your family doesn’t carry the “ageless” gene. Genetics may play an important role in longevity but this does not guarantee a healthy, long life. And you thought you could start your new diet of sausages and waffles!