Healthy Aging Top 10 Anti-Aging Foods to Fit Into Your Diet By Mark Stibich, PhD Updated on April 12, 2024 Medically reviewed by Jason DelCollo, DO Fact checked by Jennifer Klump Print These anti-aging foods will help you eat your way to a longer life expectancy. Add these delicious foods into your daily diet and you will be decreasing your risk for illnesses and age-related problems. Just pick one or two to add in each week. 1 Avocados @cherylishungry via Twenty20 Avocados have to be one of the most delicious foods out there. Mix up a little guacamole or slice a few up on your salad for an anti-aging treat. Avocados are one of the best foods around for anti-aging and longevity. Why? First of all, they are delicious. But more importantly, avocados are filled with healthy fats and other nutrients to help your body live longer and work better. 2 Walnuts ermingut/Getty Images Walnuts are the perfect snack for anti-aging. They give you protein and omega-3s in a safe, convenient form. Eat a handful every day. Walnuts are a great anti-aging food because of the amount of omega-3s in just a handful. These omega-3 fatty acids are real longevity tools. They fight off heart disease by improving your HDL cholesterol level. Make walnuts part of your day, every day. 3 Vegetables Hinterhaus Productions/Getty Images Eating your vegetables for anti-aging may not seem like interesting advice, but the impact of eating enough vegetables on your life expectancy is extreme. Vegetables are a great source of nutrients and antioxidants. Not only that, but vegetables also help you lose weight. Eat five to nine servings every day to help your body make repairs and live longer. 4 Water Michael Heim / EyeEm/ Getty Images Our bodies need water to fight off aging and damage. Drink lots of water every day to keep your body functioning well. Water is a multi-billion dollar industry. There are many claims that drinking water can "detox" your body. Most of these claims are not fully backed by research. However, drinking plenty of water is important for many reasons including getting rid of waste. And drinking water is a healthier choice than sugary beverages full of empty calories. 5 Chocolate Chris Ryan/Getty Images The fact that chocolate has anti-aging properties is proof that the universe is a kind and loving place. Eat chocolate (not too much) for anti-aging benefits. Chocolate is one of the world's favorite foods. Recent research shows that eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate also brings health benefits to your heart. The antioxidants in dark chocolate protect your heart against aging, damage, and heart disease. 6 Berries Julia Khusainova/Getty Images For an anti-aging dessert, have a bowl full of berries. Pack in those vitamins and avoid sugary alternatives. Berries are a great source of antioxidants and other nutrients. Eat more strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries to help with anti-aging and longevity. Not only do berries fight free radicals that cause damage to your body, they also provide other essential nutrients. Work berries into your weekly diet. 7 Red Wine Instants/Getty Images Red wine is known to contain potent antioxidants like resveratrol that can help reduce your risk of heart disease as well as other aging-related conditions like diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure). There is even some evidence that drinking one serving of red wine per day can reduce your risk of certain cancers, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and even dementia. Moreover, long-standing concerns that wine may be carcinogenic (cancer-causing) have largely been allayed in recent years, with a 2023 review of studies in Frontiers of Nutrition finding no such association between moderate red wine consumption and cancers of any sort. Even so, some experts believe the health benefits of red wine are overstated and suggest that there are other "healthier" sources of antioxidants like resveratrol, such as blueberries, cranberries, and peanuts. Others still contend that no level of alcohol consumption can be considered "safe." To this end, experts advise that you may able to safely reap the benefits of red wine by limiting yourself to no more than 5 fluid ounces per day and choosing red wines from regions with cool, moist climates as they have far more resveratrol in them than those from warm, dry climates. 8 Green Tea Frank Rothe/Getty Images Green tea is an ancient drink for good health and longevity. The antioxidant benefits of daily consumption of green tea are well known. A little drink of green tea a couple of times a day could do wonders for your life expectancy. Switching green tea for sodas in the afternoon would have multiple benefits. 9 Melons Patrizia Savarese/Getty Images Melons are delicious. They are also a great source of a wide range of vitamins. Eat a different kind of melon every week for excellent health benefits. Melons are a delicious source of vitamins and other nutrients. Watermelons and cantaloupe are easy-to-find and inexpensive sources of great anti-aging foods. Add melons to your daily foods for a big healthy boost to your diet. 10 Beans Toby Adamson / Design Pics / Getty Images As far as anti-aging foods go, beans are one of the best around. Your heart will love the healthy, fat-free protein, and other anti-aging properties of beans. Beans are a great anti-aging and longevity food. They provide healthy protein without all the fat that you find in animal products. Beans also provide a large supply of antioxidants that prevent damage by free radicals. Work beans into your weekly menu for their anti-aging properties. 13 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. 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Effects of L-citrulline supplementation and watermelon consumption on longer-term and postprandial vascular function and cardiometabolic risk markers: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in adults [published online ahead of print, 2021 Dec 6]. Br J Nutr. 2021;128(9):1-34. doi:10.1017/S0007114521004803 Ali S, Rahman AU, Ali E, et al. Insights on the nutritional profiling of cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L.) via 1-naphthalene acetic acid. Plants (Basel). 2023;12(16):2969. doi:10.3390/plants12162969 Grela ER, Samolińska W, Kiczorowska B, Klebaniuk R, Kiczorowski P. Content of minerals and fatty acids and their correlation with phytochemical compounds and antioxidant activity of leguminous seeds. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2017;180(2):338-348. doi:10.1007/s12011-017-1005-3 By Mark Stibich, PhD Mark Stibich, PhD, FIDSA, is a behavior change expert with experience helping individuals make lasting lifestyle improvements. 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