I'm A Nutritionist: These Are My 6 All-Time Favorite Foods For Longevity

To increase our longevity, we want to explore which foods and dietary habits turn down the dial and which turn it up. We should also examine the lifestyle traits of populations who have been nurturing the biological processes responsible for optimal cellular aging for centuries. 

By now, given what we have learned about the ability of fiber to promote a healthy body weight and protect us against developing various chronic diseases, it's probably not surprising to learn that those who add more fiber to their diet also add more years to their lives1.

If you take only one recommendation (of course, I hope you take more than that!), it should be swapping as much as possible, preferably all, of your meat for legumes. This will instantly ramp up the amount of plant protein and fiber in your diet and improve your chances of living a longer, healthier life.

Do you want the good news first or the better news? Let's start with the good. Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with greater longevity, with a recent meta-analysis of 95 cohorts from around the world finding that for every 200-gram (or 7-ounce) increase in fruits and vegetables per day, participants enjoyed a 10% lower risk of premature death.

There is overwhelming evidence showing nut and seed consumption is associated with a longer life4. Nuts and seeds are jam-packed with nutrition (heart-healthy unsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients) and, despite what many may presume, their consumption is associated with a healthy body weight, decreased risk of chronic disease, and a longer life5.

How many servings per day or week is associated with benefit? One study that combined two cohorts with over 120,000 participants followed for over two decades identified that compared with participants not eating nuts, those consuming seven or more 28-gram servings per week had a 20% lower risk of premature death4. That is a small handful a day.

Every three servings (of around 30 grams each) of whole grains, such as oats, brown rice, rye, buckwheat, and wild rice, was shown by a large meta-analysis of 11 observational studies to reduce the risk of premature death by 17%7. This effect was observed up to a total of around seven servings per day.

One of the more frequent questions I get is: "Is coffee healthy?" The good news for my caffeine-loving friends is that it certainly seems to be. Numerous meta-analyses of observational studies show regular consumption of coffee, up to four cups per day, is associated with reduced risk of various chronic diseases and improved life span8. 

As decaffeinated coffee is associated with similar improvements, the benefits of coffee have widely been attributed to its rich polyphenol content—molecules with antioxidant properties. In fact, in a study looking at 238 beverages, a double espresso had the highest antioxidant content9—six times more than green tea and four times more than red wine. Trials conducted on mice have shown that polyphenols in coffee stimulate autophagy10, providing a possible explanation for these observed findings.

If you're not a fan of coffee, the good news is that the polyphenols in tea have also been shown to induce autophagy11. Freshly brewed green, black, or matcha tea seems to be your best bet. If you want to take your tea longevity game to the next level, add some turmeric powder, which contains a potent polyphenol called curcumin, that will dial up autophagy even further.