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Healthy Aging Diet: 7 Steps

By Ethan Boldt

April 7, 2025

Healthy aging means living a long life that is full of good health, energy and strength … until the end. You want to be as healthy, relatively energetic and strong, and cognitively well as possible.

This rosy health outcome doesn’t happen by accident. While genetics certainly play a role, how you take care of your health, including how you eat, plays a major role.

In fact, four key factors in healthy aging — healthy blood sugar levels, a healthy inflammatory response, healthy liver function and healthy hormone levels — can be helped by our dietary choices.

Let’s learn what a healthy aging diet is, including the best types of foods in that diet alongside foods that don’t belong.

What is a healthy aging diet?

In certain communities in the world where people live longer, the average person feels younger, manages a healthy weight, maintains cognitive health and is physically active. These areas are called “blue zones.”

These so-called blue zones include Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece), Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica) and Loma Linda (California).

In fact, the Okinawa Diet, named after the people of the Japanese island Okinawa — which includes some of the oldest people in the world — is centered on eating a variety of fresh, seasonal vegetables (such as leafy greens and sweet potatoes). Researchers also note that Okinawans rarely overeat.

The Mediterranean diet is also associated with a longer life span, likely because it’s packed with anti-inflammatory foods that support overall health, including heart and cellular health.

What these diets all have in common are that they’re largely plant-based. When meat and seafood are eaten, it’s recommended that they be the best quality possible and enjoyed in moderation.

An 2022 analysis of studies published in the journal Cells showed that certain dietary guidelines would boost the potential of healthy aging. The guidelines include eating more complex carbohydrates (rather than refined ones), adequate protein intake (including plant-based and fish), plant-based fats (like olive oil and avocado) and occasional intermittent fasting.

Let’s find out more.

How to eat for healthy aging

1. Eat more vegetables

Did you know that approximately only one in 10 American adults meet the recommendations for vegetable consumption? According to the CDC’s 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, adults should consume 2–3 cups of vegetables daily.

The top healthy aging foods include leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. These foods support healthy aging because they’re high in antioxidants and key nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fiber and more.

For example, a 2018 study from the journal Neurology showed how one to two servings of leafy green vegetables per day helped support healthy cognitive functioning. The authors concluded that eating this way was the equivalent of being biologically younger compared with those who rarely ate or didn't eat green leafy vegetables.

Suggestion: Eat 4–6 servings of vegetables per day. This can mean at least a side salad at lunch, a vegetable soup, or some cut-up veggies with hummus. At dinner, surround your protein with plenty of veggies.

2. Have more whole grains and fiber-rich foods

Regular consumption of dietary fiber was shown to help support heart health through multiple ways, including promoting healthy cholesterol levels, healthy weight management and more. Fiber also promotes digestive health and regular bowel movements

Choose options like oats (breakfast), wheat berry bread (lunch) and brown rice (dinner) instead of refined grains. Introduce more high-fiber foods like beans, seeds and legumes into your diet.

Suggestion: Salads can be a main dish or side where you get both plenty of greens and fiber, as nearly every kind of bean or seed works.

3. Have more lean protein

For women and men over the age of 70, protein intake often declines and can accelerate muscle loss that already occurs with normal aging.

Studies show that a higher intake of protein leads to greater muscle mass, including in older adults.

Suggested high-protein foods to add to your grocery cart includes eggs, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, wild-caught salmon and sardines, Greek yogurt and kefir, and plant-based proteins like tempeh and legumes. The Okinawans, for example, eat fish several times a week.

Of course, an easy way to up your daily protein intake is to use protein powder, such as at breakfast time with a protein smoothie. Ancient Nutrition, for example, offers collagen protein, bone broth protein, whey protein and plant protein.

Suggestion: Rather than get all of your protein at one meal (as your body doesn’t store protein), it’s best to spread your protein intake throughout the day, so you end up with good amounts of protein at each meal and even snack time.

4. Collagen

A vital protein for the body is collagen. The most abundant protein in the body, it’s particularly found in large amounts in your skin and joints.

But as you age, your collagen production begins to naturally slow down, which can promote normal signs of aging. This can lead to the appearance of wrinkles, and hair and joint impacts.

While this aging process is considered a normal part of aging, consuming foods rich in collagen and certain collagen supplements can support collagen synthesis as well as healthy skin and joints. Human studies indicate that consuming hydrolyzed collagen peptides — meaning the protein is broken into smaller molecules that your body absorbs more efficiently — can help help your body with its own collagen production.

Suggestion: The food with the most collagen is bone broth. Learn to make it or consider Ancient Nutrition’s Bone Broth Protein. Also check out Multi Collagen Protein, with its many flavors, or Multi Collagen Advanced, a premiere collagen line that includes a Longevity supplement.

5. Antioxidant fruits

While vegetables should predominate over fruit in a healthy aging diet, certain fruits are definitely on the list for consumption, including berries.

Berries are loaded with antioxidants like phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins. A 2019 study published in Advanced Nutrition noted that blueberries contain three major properties that contribute to healthy aging: high in antioxidants, acts as a vasoprotector (promoting healthy blood vessels) and supports a healthy inflammatory response.

Additionally, a European Journal of Nutrition study demonstrated how blueberries assisted with healthy cognitive performance.

Grapes are another top fruit for healthy aging. Grapes, especially the skins and seeds, are the most concentrated source of resveratrol. Resveratrol has been shown to promote the healthy expression of three genes all related to longevity.

Suggestion: Have fresh fruit with breakfast and occasionally substitute fresh, seasonal fruit for that sugary dessert.

6. Eat the right type of fats

For a healthy aging diet, it’s key to eat more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats than saturated fats. So ditch or at least lower the animal-based foods like butter, beef, processed meats, cheese and ice cream, as excessive saturated fat can negatively impact cholesterol levels.

Instead, put healthy fats like more avocado (including avocado oil), olive oil, wild-caught salmon, nuts and flax seeds in your diet.

For example, avocado contains a hearty amount of important healthy aging nutrients, such as fiber, healthy fats like oleic acid, potassium and vitamin K. Mostly monounsaturated fat, avocados help promote healthy skin, support healthy cholesterol levels and already healthy, normal blood sugar levels, boost heart health and even promote satiety.

Olive oil is a staple of the Mediterranean diet and is also high in healthy monounsaturated fatty acids as well as biologically active phenolic compounds that are linked to supporting heart health, healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and normal blood sugar levels.

Suggestion: Cook with avocado oil (it has a high smoke point) more often and use olive oil in your salads, as it shouldn’t be heated beyond 325 degrees.

7. Cut back on sugar, salt and processed foods

Maybe this is obvious, but sugar, salt and processed foods are unhealthy yet predominate in the American diet and across the world.

Excessive sugar in the diet can cause negative impacts on blood pressure and triglyceride levels, blood sugar levels, liver health, and cognitive function. It can even have a negative effect on hormonal balance for women. Excessive salt intake can contribute to high blood pressure, heart and kidney problems, and more.

Meanwhile, ultra-processed foods are often high in both sugar and salt as well as many other unhealthy ingredients. These fake foods make up over 60 percent of the average person’s diet these days.

Ultra-processed food overconsumption can lead to weight gain, digestive system and heart issues, inflammaging, poor nutrient intake and more.

Suggestion: Swap out popular ultra-processed foods for healthier options, such as Greek yogurt for flavored yogurt, overnight oats for cereal, baked sweet potato for French fries, and grilled chicken breast (or fermented tofu) for deli meats (including vegan versions).

As always, you should consult your healthcare professional prior to beginning any new dietary or lifestyle regimen.