Research Shows These 10 Diets Are Linked to Healthier Aging

0Many diets that focus on plant-based foods can slow biological aging, a new study found.Credit: Kinga Krzeminska / Getty ImagesFact checked by Nick Blackmer

What we’re talking about: A new study found that several plant-forward diets were linked to slower biological aging, but no single diet stood out as the best.

Why it matters: With so many diets touted for their longevity benefits, it can be difficult to know which one to choose.

What you can do: Don’t get too hung up on following a specific diet. Instead, focus on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

From the Mediterranean to the MIND diet, there always seems to be an eating plan hailed for its longevity benefits. But when it comes to living longer, does one diet really rise to the top?

Researchers recently put that question to the test. Ultimately, they found that none of the 10 diets they examined stood out as the best for “turning back the clock.”

What they did find, however, was encouraging: “There is a whole repertoire of healthy dietary patterns,” said Juliana Tavares, a PhD student at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and an author of the study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Previous studies have found significant overlap between healthy eating and longevity. But according to Tavares, much of the research has focused on individual foods, nutrients, or specific eating patterns.

For the new study, the researchers wanted to take a different approach: comparing several well-known healthy diets. The eating plans included region-specific ones, such as the Mediterranean and Nordic, as well as diets designed to address certain aspects of health, like the MIND diet (brain health) and DASH diet (blood pressure). Several plant-based diets were also included.

To explore the diets’ potential effects on longevity, the team analyzed blood samples and self-reported dietary data from a total of about 7,500 participants included in two German studies.

The researchers compared participants’ eating habits with the 10 diets and used blood samples to estimate epigenetic age, or the age of the body based on changes to DNA.

After analysis, the researchers found that different diets were associated with distinct DNA patterns related to age-related changes, including cognitive decline and cell communication.

Interestingly, genetic “pathways related to cognition and memory were unique to the MIND diet, and heart-related pathways were unique to the DASH diet,” Tavares said, suggesting that certain diets may offer benefits for people with specific health concerns.

What the data didn’t show, however, was that any one diet beat out the others for overall healthy aging. All of the diets were linked with slower biological aging, as measured by DNA markers.

“That translates into something quite freeing,” Tavares said. “There is no single ‘best’ diet.”

Registered dietitian Anne Danahy, MS, RDN, and nutritional neuroscientist Amy Reichelt, PhD, praised the study’s large sample size and use of multiple measures of epigenetic aging.

Still, the study has important caveats to keep in mind. For one, it doesn’t prove that the diets cause slower biological aging; it establishes only an association between the two. Additionally, self-reported dietary data can be inaccurate, and because most participants were of European ancestry, the findings may not apply to the broader population.

If you’re hoping to age well, the study suggests that you have plenty of healthy eating patterns to choose from.

“Rather than obsessing over the perfect diet,” Reichert said, she recommends focusing on the common features shared by the diets in the study: plenty of plant foods, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and healthy fats, along with less red and processed meat, added sugar, and sodium.

If your current diet looks quite different from these recommendations, Danahy suggested making gradual changes rather than attempting a complete overhaul.

“Start slowly to allow yourself to build new habits,” she said. “Make changes to each plate instead of thinking long-term about what you can’t or shouldn’t eat.”

Some simple ways to get started include substituting olive oil for butter when cooking, sprinkling nuts and seeds over cereal, oatmeal, or salads, and including a serving of fruit or vegetables with each meal and snack.