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Asked by NoeliaGR on 23 Jan 2025.
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Oyinkansola (Oyin) Olotu answered on 23 Jan 2025:
Hi Noelia so the Mediterranean diet has been said to be the best for this. It is high in lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes (eg peas, chickpeas black-eyed peas), lean proteins from fish and chicken, good fats from olive oil and avocado, and some dairy.
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Giorgia Perri answered on 23 Jan 2025:
This is a good question, and we still don’t have a clear answer. Research suggests a Mediterranean diet, one that is rich in fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, oily fish, and olive oil, with a limited intake of red meat, and processed foods (such as crisps and sweets) can help promote a healthy life.
There is also the Blue Zones diet, which focuses on the diets that populations eat in the top 5 areas where people live the longest. This also focuses on plant-based foods (nuts, seeds, vegetables) with less emphasis on processed foods.
Currently, there is also research on personalised diets – which means everyone responds differently to foods, and a diet that works well for one person, may not be the best for someone else due to differences in their DNA.
Overall, lots of healthy, whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish, mil,k and a lower consumption of sweets, cakes, and crisps – but everything in moderation!
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Iain Brownlee answered on 5 Mar 2025:
Living for a long-time has broadly been linked to eating a positive overall diet and limiting energy intake. However, there appears to be a really strong element of community support and engagement in the parts of the world that live the longest (sometimes called “The Blue Zones”).
A positive overall diet within the the UK would be to follow the Eatwell guide (https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/food-and-nutrition/eating-well/eatwell-guide-how-to-eat-a-healthy-balanced-diet/) as often and frequently as possible. At the moment, fewer than 1 in 100 people follow all of these guidelines and we need as many people as possible to improve the dietary habits to be a healthier nation.
Try not to think of a “diet” as a restrictive practice. In food and nutrition science, “diet” just means whatever people eat.
Comments
Andrew M commented on :
Unfortunately it’s an area where you might have to be cautious with the data. Each year the Ig Nobel prizes are awarded for work that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”. The 2024 Ig Nobel prize for Demographics went to a researcher whose work suggested that your chances of reaching 100 years old increased dramatically if you lived in an area with “no birth certificates, rampant clerical errors, pension fraud, and short life spans”. In one area up to 82% of the centenarians were found to be ummm, a bit Norwegian Blue. There’s a risk these problems might cloud the data and skew the outcomes of analysis.