The Best Foods To Eat For A Long Life, According To Longevity Experts

Anyone who wants to live a long and healthy life wants a magic formula for reaching a ripe old age. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy ― but there are some things you can do to bolster your odds.

″If you want to live longer, improve what you’re eating and start moving your body more,” said Dr. Linda Shiue, an internist and director of culinary and lifestyle medicine at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco.

But knowing exactly which foods to eat for a longer life can be tricky. Shiue says that while no one needs to be perfect, it’s important to fill up on “foods in their natural state, like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish, eggs and nuts.” By doing so, she said, we replace the “ultra-processed foods” in our diets, “such as shelf-stable foods that have refined carbs and high sugars, like white bread.”

But even when we know which foods are good for us, it can be hard to figure out the right balance of healthy options that give us a better chance of living longer ― and hard to find sweets that are good for us when the craving strikes.

We asked three top longevity experts what’s in their grocery carts. Here’s what they told us.

Cruciferous Vegetables

All vegetables are packed with nutrition, but cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cabbage are powerhouses at helping you live longer. That’s because they are rich in anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-aging phytonutrients, said Dr. Mark Hyman , an author, family physician and director of the UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts.

They’re also an important source of magnesium, a mineral responsible for more than 600 enzyme reactions, Hyman said. Furthermore, c ruciferous vegetables are rich in folate, a B vitamin critical for DNA