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From drinking coffee to walking every day to taking certain vitamins, scientists have pinpointed many different strategies that may help boost your longevity. How, researchers are adding data from a 30-year study that suggests a specific healthy aging diet that may help you live longer without any major chronic illnesses.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, links a plant-forward diet in midlife to healthy aging, saying that it increases your likelihood of reaching age 70 healthfully and sans any chronic ailments. In it, researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, specifically focusing on the diets of 105,000 adults who answered questionnaires about their eating habits between the ages of 39 and 69. The researchers looked at eight dietary patterns, factoring in the participants’ intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats, nuts and legumes, fish, poultry, dairy products, and ultra-processed foods.
Meet the experts: Marta Guasch-Ferré, Ph.D., study co-author and associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen; Scott Keatley, R.D., of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy; Scott Kaiser, M.D., a geriatrician and director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.
The researchers discovered that nearly 10,000 of the participants (or 9.3%) aged in a healthy way, which they defined as meeting several cognitive, physical, and mental metrics, along with being able to reach age 70 free of chronic diseases. They also found that people who ate diets that were higher in plant-based foods were more likely to experience healthy aging, regardless of whether they were physically active, smoked, or had a higher body mass index. That doesn’t mean they ate a vegetarian or vegan diet, though—they just ate more plant-based foods.
Read on to discover what doctors and dietitians say you should take away from the study.
What is the best healthy aging diet?
The study found that the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) diet was the best for healthy aging. This diet is actually a scoring system developed by Harvard nutritionists that assigns ratings to foods and nutrients to determine how likely they are to raise your risk of developing chronic disease.
This diet is rich in vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and healthy fats. It also minimizes red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium, and refined grains.
The eating plan specifically suggests aiming for five servings of vegetables a day, four servings of fruit, five to six servings of whole grains, and getting a serving a day from nuts, legumes, and vegetable protein, according to Harvard Medical School.
The study also looked at a variety of other dietary patterns. In order of how well they support healthy aging, from best to worst (after the AHEI diet), they were as follows:
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Reverse empirical dietary index for hyperinsulinemia (EDIH): A dietary score that analyzes foods to try to predict insulin secretion and the body’s ability to manage blood sugar.
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Alternative Mediterranean Index (aMED): An analysis of how well someone follows the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in plant-based foods, healthy fats, and lean proteins.
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Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH): An eating plan designed to prevent or treat high blood pressure, minimize sodium and focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein.
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Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI): This diet encourages fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, while minimizing red and processed meats and eggs. It also tries to promote a sustainable food system.
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Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND): This diet aims to lower the risk of dementia, focusing on whole grains, green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, beans, fish, and poultry.
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Reverse empirically inflammatory dietary pattern (EDIP): A food-based index that looks at the inflammatory role of things like processed meat, red meat, fish, vegetables, refined grains, drinks, and tomatoes.
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Healthful plant-based diet (hPDI): An eating plan that focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts.
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Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption: An analysis of how many foods people eat that are changed from their natural state, with added artificial colors and flavors, and preservatives.
Ultimately, the researchers found that people who ate diets that were higher in trans fats, sodium, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red or processed meat were less like to age in a healthy way.
“What we eat is really fundamental to all aspects of our existence—these findings highlight that,” said Scott Kaiser, M.D., a geriatrician and director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. “We need food for nutrition, sustenance, and survival. At the same time, food can be our medicine or extremely toxic.”
How a plant-forward diet boosts longevity
Again, plant-forward (or plant-based) doesn’t mean you can’t have meat. Instead, it just means that the majority of the foods you eat come from plants. There are a few reasons why plant-based diets are linked to healthy aging.
“Studies have shown that a plant-based diet may help you live longer by lowering the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers due to its high fiber, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds,” explained Marta Guasch-Ferré, Ph.D., study co-author and an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen.
Plant-based diets also support a healthy gut, promote weight management, and protect cells from oxidative stress, which can lead to cell and tissue damage, Guasch-Ferré said. “Additionally, it lowers inflammation and improves brain health, reducing the risk of cognitive decline as you age,” she added.
But there can also be an indirect impact on healthy eating when you follow a mostly plant-based diet. “People increasing plant foods often also reduce ultra-processed foods,” said Scott Keatley, R.D., of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. “That makes it hard to separate whether the benefit is from eating more plants, eating less junk, or both.”
Why minimizing processed foods is also key
In addition to highlighting the benefits of filling your plate with plants, the study also found that eating higher amounts of ultra-processed foods was linked to a 32% lower chance of healthy aging. “Ultra-processed foods are consistently linked to worse health outcomes,” Keatley said. “They’re engineered to override hunger cues, they drive inflammation, and they crowd out nutrient-dense foods.”
Ultra-processed foods also tend to be higher in salt and sugar, ingredients that have been linked to health issues, too, Guasch-Ferré said.
The bottom line
What you eat during midlife plays a critical role in your long-term health. “It’s when the foundations of chronic disease are often laid—quietly and cumulatively,” Guasch-Ferré said. Vascular damage, low-grade inflammation, insulin sensitivity issues, and oxidative stress can also take hold during this time, and following a healthy, plant-forward diet may help to combat them. “A nutrient-dense, lower-inflammatory diet during mid-life can slow or even prevent these changes before they become fixed,” said Guasch-Ferré. “It’s much harder to rebuild resilience at 70 than it is to preserve it at 50.”
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