Want to Turn Back the Clock? These 10 Diets May Help You Age Better

New research identifies 10 different diets that help support healthy aging. The diets focus on plant foods while minimizing highly processed products. Dietitians stress the importance of healthy eating to slow biological aging. When healthy aging is the goal, it makes sense to try everything you can to make it happen. That means doing your best to exercise regularly, keep up with doctor's appointments, and eat a well-balanced diet. You have lots of options when it comes to the last one—but it can be hard to know which of the many popular eating plans is right for you. Thankfully, new research has helped narrow the choices.The study, which was published in Nature Communications, analyzed several different diets to see how they impacted biological aging. (Biological aging is the age of your cells, while your chronological age is how old you are.) Popular eating plans like the Mediterranean diet and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet made the cut, of course, but several lesser-known diets did too. Here’s what to know.Meet the experts: Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers; Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet; and Sonya Angelone, RD, PhD, a former spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a San Francisco-based dietitian.What did the study find?For the study, researchers analyzed data from 6,470 participants who were 30 and older. Researchers looked at some of the participants' biomarkers that correlated with biological age and compared that with information about their diets.After analyzing the data, researchers found that healthier eating in general was linked with slower biological aging, no matter which diet people chose. Each specific eating plan offered an edge with certain perks, though. Case in point: The DASH diet (which is specifically meant to stop hypertension) had more cardiovascular benefits for biological aging, while the MIND diet (which combines the Mediterranean and DASH diets for brain health) offered cognitive perks. But researchers discovered that there were a lot of shared biological aging benefits between the different types of diets.These are the 10 diets flagged as being good for biological aging:Mediterranean dietNordic diet (sometimes known as the Scandinavian diet)DASH dietMIND dietAlternate Healthy Eating Index (sometimes called the AHEI diet)Plant-based Diet Index (which includes all plant-based foods)Healthful Plant-based Diet Index (plant-based foods, but with an emphasis on whole grains and fruits and less on juices, refined grains, potatoes, and sweets)Unhealthful Plant-based Diet Index (plant-based foods that include juices, refined grains, potatoes, and sweets)Dietary Inflammatory IndexEAT-Lancet Diet (sometimes called the Planetary Health diet)All of these diets are slightly different, but there are a few common threads. "They generally emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other nutrient-dense foods," says Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet.The diets also stress the importance of minimally processed foods, while limiting refined carbs, added sugars, and processed meats, according to Sonya Angelone, RD, PhD, a former spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a San Francisco-based dietitian. "The recommended foods provide fiber, antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats that support metabolic health and help protect cells from oxidative stress and chronic inflammation," she says. Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation are both linked to a higher risk of disease, Angelone points out.These diets also support the heart, brain, and digestive systems, says Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers. "All of these things factor into the aging process and somebody's quality of life as they age," she says. "When you're eating to support these different organ systems, you support your longevity and lower your risk of disease."What's the takeaway?There are a few things to take away from the findings, according to dietitians. One is that there isn't a single eating plan that's superior to others when it comes to longevity. "It's the overall quality of what we eat consistently that matters most, rather than following a particular diet or avoiding individual foods," Gans says.While there are plenty of diet plans out there that claim they can help you live longer, Angelone stresses this: "Healthy aging doesn’t have to include expensive foods, supplements, or restrictive diets."Finally, the study underscores the power of nutrition in keeping you healthy. "Our genes are not our destiny," Angelone says. "We can change the expression of our genes—genomics—with nutrition and lifestyle habits."Supporting healthy aging with the way you eat means giving your body the fuel it requires to function well, Angelone says. "Healthy aging isn’t about finding a perfect diet or miracle food or supplement," she says. "It is about consistently providing foods that supply nutrients needed by our bodies to function optimally, repair cellular damage, and protect themselves. This will impact how we age."