What you eat doesn’t just impact how you feel day to day—it can also play a big role in how your body ages over time. A healthy aging diet supports everything from energy and skin elasticity to cell repair and muscle maintenance.
“What you eat impacts energy levels, skin elasticity, and cell repair and regeneration processes,” says board-certified family medicine and regenerative anti-aging medication specialist Gowri Reddy Rocco, M.D., M.S.—all of which impact how we look and feel now and later. While eating healthy can slow signs of aging by reducing inflammation, increasing collagen levels, and supporting muscle mass, low-nutrient eating can translate to deeper wrinkles, saggier skin, increased pigmentation, reduced muscle mass, and higher body fat, she says.
So, what does a healthy aging diet actually look like? Ahead, six foods to eat that will help fend off factors associated with faster aging.
- ABOUT OUR EXPERTS: Gowri Reddy Rocco, M.D., M.S. is a board-certified family medicine and regenerative anti-aging medication specialist. Jerry Bailey, M.S., D.C., is a functional medicine practitioner. certified nutritionist and chiropractor with Lakeside Holistic Health.
1. Energy-Supporting Foods
“Ongoing internal stressors—whether from lifestyle, diet, or environment—can influence how your body functions and feels over time,” says Rocco. “When the body is under continuous strain, it may stay in a heightened state of response, which could impact how you feel and how your skin appears.”
What to Eat: Eating nutrient-rich foods and spices may support overall wellness, including skin health and energy levels,” says Rocco. While all fruits, veggies, and spices have anti-inflammatory properties, she recommends making a special effort to consume berries, dark leafy greens, turmeric, or ginger daily.
If you don’t cook with spices, talk to a provider about whether a daily turmeric supplement could support your healthy aging diet goals.
Read More: 5 Antioxidant Supplements To Prioritize For Head-To-Toe Health
2. Vitamin C-Rich Foods
Collagen is a structural protein that’s a major player in skin health and appearance. “It gives your skin its strength, elasticity, and firmness,” says functional medicine practitioner and certified nutritionist Jerry Bailey, M.S., D.C, with Lakeside Holistic Health. After 30, however, the amount of collagen your body naturally creates decreases year over year, which can lead individuals to start to notice wrinkles and loose skin, he says. Thankfully, consuming specific nutrients supports output, and prioritizing them can enhance production and slow the decline.
What to Eat: “Vitamin C is essential for collagen synthesis in the body,” says Rocco. So, adequate intake of 90 and 75 mg for men and women daily through citrus fruits, peppers, and strawberries can support natural collagen production, she says.
Zinc and copper, which exist in nuts, seeds, shellfish, and whole grains, also play a role in collagen production, adds Bailey. Consuming the recommended dose of 11 mg of zinc and 1 to 2 mg of copper daily (the equivalent of two raw oysters or a handful of Brazil nuts) can support a youthful appearance and complement a healthy aging diet. If getting these nutrients through diet alone can be a challenge, consider The Vitamin Shoppe brand’s twofer Zinc with Copper supplement to ensure daily consumption.
According to Bailey, the best approach is to combine ingredients that support collagen levels with foods naturally rich in collagen. Bone broth, skin-on chicken, fish, and collagen protein powder can all supplement your natural collagen output. Vital Proteins and Ancient Nutrition, among others, sell collagen protein powder formulated specifically for skin health.
3. Antioxidant-Rich Foods
Oxidative stress greatly impacts the rate at which an individual ages. Essentially, a measure of the amount of damaging chemical compounds (called free radicals) in the system, when oxidative stress gets high, the system experiences damage on a cellular level, explains Rocco.
According to research published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, oxidative stress breaks down cell tissues, increasing the risk for several health conditions and diseases.
“High levels of oxidative stress can also lead to wrinkles and pigmentation,” says Bailey. In fact, the researchers behind one Biomolecules study say that oxidative stress “plays a major role” in the skin aging process. This is mainly due to the fact that oxidation reduces the integrity of the epidermis, thus making the skin more susceptible to damage-causing pathogens, per the researchers.
What to Eat: The free radicals that contribute to aging oxidative stress are neutralized by antioxidants, according to Rocco. “Including antioxidant-rich foods such as green tea, berries, and dark leafy greens may support your body’s natural defense systems and contribute to overall cellular health,” she says. Dark leafy greens, like spinach and kale, also provide helpful antioxidants like vitamin K and vitamin C, adds Bailey.
Read More: 8 Foods That Are Loaded With Antioxidants
The best way to ensure you’re consuming adequate antioxidants to support anti-aging objectives, per Bailey, is to focus on including fruits and veggies with each meal and snack. The World Health Organization suggests a minimum of five servings of different fruits and vegetables daily.
4. All the Protein
A peek at Jillian Michaels’ (51) abs, Michelle Obama’s (61) arms, or The Rock’s (53) entire posterior proves that muscle mass is a powerful anti-aging agent.
The perks of having muscles, however, don’t start and stop with the aesthetic of your physique. Muscle mass also gives you the strength needed to sustain independence and remain injury-free as you age, says Rocco. Without adequate core strength, for instance, an individual may not have the balance necessary to safely scoot out of the way of a fellow pedestrian, while limited shoulder strength and make it unsafe to retrieve plates or pantry items on the top shelf.
What to Eat: Starting after the age of 30, hormonal drop-offs, increased inflammation, and cellular aging can lead to an annual muscle mass decline of up to one percent annually. To the rescue is protein, a macronutrient that helps your body maintain current muscle mass and build new muscle mass following strength training, says Bailey. As such, “eating enough protein can slow down the rate at which you lose muscle,” he says.
How much protein should you eat? “Older adults should consume at least 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day to avoid muscle loss,” says Rocco. For someone weighing 150 pounds, that works out to about 120 grams daily. Though research in Nutrients suggests that if an individual is resistance training, eating 1.0 grams per body weight (150 grams daily for a 150-pound person) is safe and will maximize muscle growth.
“Animal-based protein sources include chicken, beef, eggs, and fish like salmon, while non-animal options include lentils, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and quinoa,” says Bailey. “Adding things like seeds, nuts, and plant-based protein powders can help meet daily goals too,” he says.
Read More: How To Choose The Right Plant-Based Protein For You
5. Healthy Fats
If you were alive during the 80s, you likely remember the crusade against fats, which encouraged people to ditch fats altogether. “Cut the fat” was a common refrain in doctors’ offices and nutritional articles alike, with many popular health mags, ads, and providers all promoting a low-fat diet, per a retrospective published in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Science.
In the last decade, however, the discussion has become more nuanced, with scientists and nutritionists actually encouraging some unsaturated fats for optimal health. And a 2018 study published in Current Obesity Reports found that the publicity against fats has led to a widespread misunderstanding of fat’s role in health. Some research suggests that unsaturated fats—like those found in olive oil, walnuts, and salmon—may support heart health and skin integrity over time,” says Rocco.
One 2020 study published in Nutrients reported that consuming essential fatty acids (via healthy fats) impacts skin health on a few levels. The fatty acids enter the skin via digestion and absorption, where they then help remove oxidative damage in the skin, inhibit further degradation, and maintain the integrity of the skin structure. Meanwhile, a review in Dermatology Practical & Conceptual reported that daily fatty acid intake supports the integrity of the skin barrier, and thus supports a youthful appearance.
What to Eat: For overall health and longevity, Bailey says that most people should aim to get 20 to 35 percent of their daily calories from healthy fats. “You can get there by eating fatty fish like salmon two or three times a week, and adding foods like avocados, olive oil, walnuts, flaxseeds, and chia seeds into daily rotation,” he says.
The key here is to prioritize unsaturated fats. While unsaturated fats have anti-aging fatty acids, the processed saturated and trans fats found in ultra-processed junk food contain a high amount of hydrogenated oils that may contribute to internal stress and accelerate visible signs of aging, says Rocco.
Read More: The 3 Keys To Aging Well, According To Research
6. Fermented Foods
If you’re clued in to health trends, you’ve heard of the gut-brain connection, which refers to the influence the gut microbiome has on brain health and function. But have you heard of the gut-skin axis? As it turns out, what’s going on in your gut, you wear on your skin.
A 2021 review in Microorganisms suggests that imbalance in the gut microbiome can lead to an altered skin microbiome—the colony of organisms that naturally live on the skin and support skin health and ward off foreign pathogens—which can increase the risk of skin health disorders, such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne vulgaris, dandruff, and more. Meanwhile, a 2024 review in Frontiers in Physiology reported that microbial shifts in the gut may accelerate age-related skin changes.
Rocco explains: “Gut health supports the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, balance hormones, and regulate inflammation, all of which are absolutely necessary for youthful vitality.” So, when gut health becomes compromised, so does that youthfulness, she says.
What to Eat: “Some of the best foods for supporting gut health and the anti-aging efforts are fermented foods, like kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut,” says Rocco. These foods contain beneficial bacteria (called probiotics) that aid in the gut microbiome.
There is no definitive daily recommendation for how much fermented food an individual should consume, but a minimum of one serving is ideal. You could also take a daily probiotic capsule, such as a Skin Probiotic, to support gut and skin health simultaneously.