Most of us would like to live long, healthy lives. But the strategies to make that happen can get confusing, especially with information flying at you from all directions, including ads for new pills and potions, social media or even conflicting research. So let’s start with what we do know. First of all, your genes have some say in how long you live, though they only make up about 25% of the equation. That means the rest comes down to lifestyle factors, including not smoking, limiting stress and maintaining a healthy weight.
Folks who manage to do those things typically avoid age-related diseases—or at least greatly delay their onset—including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure. Of course, your weight and risk for many diseases are also influenced by nutritional factors, which means that what you eat plays a big role in longevity.
Researchers in Norway and Italy wanted to drill down on what foods, exactly, can make a difference. That’s why they conducted a large umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, then published their findings in February 2025 in Advances in Nutrition. Here’s what they found—and why foods like nuts, fish, fruits, veggies and whole grains came out on top of the competition.
How Was This Review Conducted?
Researchers searched for systematically-assessed meta-analyses that evaluated longitudinal observational studies—basically, long-term studies that observed how specific foods affected the health and longevity of participants. So this current study is a review of the reviews.
These researchers focused on reviews that evaluated the intake of any of the following: edible grains (refined and whole grains), fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish and fish products, eggs, dairy products and milk, meat and meat products (including processed meat, red unprocessed meat and white unprocessed meat), sugar-sweetened beverages, and added sugars.
The researchers ended up with 41 systematic reviews and meta-analyses to evaluate for their umbrella review. Most of them were conducted between 2016 and 2022. When the studies were combined, there were more than 1 million participants for each food group. This matters because the more data and participants you have, the more likely the results are to be accurate.
One of the challenges of assessing so many different studies is that they are likely to use different measurements—like serving sizes. So to more accurately evaluate intake of the foods, researchers had to standardize the serving sizes. They set them as follows: whole grains (30 grams per day), refined grains (30 g/day), fruits (80 g/day), vegetables (100 g/day), legumes (50 g/day), nuts (28 g/day), fish (100 g/day), eggs (50 g/day), dairy products (200 g/day in milk equivalents), white meat (100 g/day), unprocessed red meat (100 g/day), processed meat (50 g/day), sugar-sweetened beverages (250 g/day or 250 mL/day) and added sugars (10 g/day).
Another challenge of umbrella reviews is that the quality of both the initial studies and systematic reviews and meta-analyses of those studies will vary. Researchers use certain tools to evaluate the quality of studies, and in this case, found that of the 41 included systematic reviews and meta-analyses, 18 were assessed to be high quality, 8 as moderate quality, 5 as low quality and 10 as critically low quality.
What Did This Review Find?
Because this umbrella review was so large, and the quality of the studies and other factors varied, it was difficult to whittle down specific findings and recommendations. With that said, researchers did find some strong associations between certain food groups and longevity.
They concluded that a diet rich in nuts, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fish is associated with reduced all-cause mortality and a longer life. They also found associations between higher intake of legumes and white meat with living longer, though the association was not as strong as the connection with nuts, whole grains, fruits, veggies and fish.
In addition, they found that a higher consumption of red and processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with an increased mortality risk—in other words, a shorter lifespan. A high intake of added sugars, refined grains and eggs leaned more toward a shorter lifespan but the association was not quite as strong as the sugar-sweetened beverages and red and processed meats.
Interestingly, they found no clear association either way for dairy.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
Assessing systematic reviews and meta-analyses has an advantage over individual studies because the researchers who do the reviews are looking at hundreds of studies and weeding out ones that either don’t meet their criteria or are highly biased. (Spoiler alert: There’s almost always some level of bias in studies because even scientists are humans with opinions.)
But umbrella reviews like this one also have their challenges—like the diversity of methods, portion sizes, participants and so on. For that reason, researchers cannot give specific portion size recommendations based on their results. They can, however, recommend that you simply opt for more nuts, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fish if you want to live longer.
It’s pretty well known that those foods pack a deliciously nutritious punch, from the heart-protective omega-3s in fish to all the antioxidants, vitamins and minerals in your favorite fruits and veggies. Plus, that lineup of foods sounds an awful lot like the Mediterranean diet, which also includes olive oil, herbs, spices and fermented dairy, like yogurt and cheese. The Mediterranean diet has been named the healthiest diet for several years in a row, touted for its influence on reducing inflammation and chronic disease—which would ultimately increase life span.
You’ll get plenty of these foods in our 7-Day Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan for Longevity. Want more? Our 30-Day Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan for Healthy Aging has got you covered! Follow the full meal plans or pick out your favorite recipes—either way, it’s an easy way to get more nuts, fruits, veggies, whole grains and fish into your routine.
The Bottom Line
According to this umbrella review, eating more nuts, whole grains, fruits, veggies and fish, and avoiding or limiting sugar-sweetened beverages, red and processed meats, refined grains and added sugars will help you live longer.
Other research suggests that longevity is also influenced by moving your body more, staying well-hydrated, engaging in hobbies you enjoy, spending time with family and friends and getting plenty of quality sleep, among other healthy habits. While engaging in these habits cannot absolutely guarantee a long life, they’ll certainly contribute to the quality of your life, however long it is.
