If you want to live a long, healthy life…

“You are what you eat” is more fact than fiction, according to new landmark research published in the journal Nature, which found people who follow a healthy diet with minimal ultra-processed foods are significantly more likely to age gracefully.

It represents the first-ever study to assess how diet impacts people’s ability to live independently and enjoy a good quality of life as they age, rather than focusing on disease development or mortality.

Methodology: Researchers tracked the diets and health of 105,000+ participants over the course of three decades.

• Their main focus was on the group that achieved “healthy aging” by age 70—meaning their memories were intact, they could perform basic physical tasks like climbing stairs or carrying groceries, and they hadn't developed depression or other major chronic conditions.
• This definition applied to just ~10% of all study participants.

The diet difference

After studying that 10% group, researchers identified eight specific diets most likely to reduce chronic disease development and increase overall healthy aging, including the Mediterranean diet and strictly plant-based regimens.

The diets all share many common themes, per the researchers. These include being rich in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fat, nuts, and legumes, as well as low in processed meat, sugars, and trans fat.

Bottom line: Diet isn’t the only factor that affects aging—physical activity, stress, smoking habits, and genetics can also play a role. But researchers widely agree it’s one of the major elements.