ArticleNature medicine2025
Optimal dietary patterns for healthy aging.
Article in Nature medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 128 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
128 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Association of combined ultra-processed food intake (ultra-processed dietary pattern) with cognitive function impairment: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.Journal of neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Ultraprocessed Food Intake, Cognition, and Executive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Dose‒response relationships of DASH, Mediterranean, and AHEI dietary patterns with heart failure incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- High-protein diets and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: A double-edged sword in liver health.World journal of gastroenterology · 2026Pooled it
- Plant-Based Diets and Cognitive Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Human gut microbiome as a composite health biomarker.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Healthy diet and slower biological aging as protective factors against microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Adherence to four plant-based dietary patterns and associated factors during pregnancy: the INfancia and Medio Ambiente cohort study.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Intersections of gastrointestinal dysbiosis of the gut microbiome and aging.World journal of gastrointestinal pathophysiology · 2026Review
- Ginsenoside Rg2 fromMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Biological signature of dietary patterns in older adults: findings from a population-based study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Association between midlife macronutrient intake and late-life hearing loss: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- The Gut Microbiome as a Mechanistic Link Between the Planetary Health Diet and Healthy Aging.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Associations between diet quality, epigenetic aging and epigenome in two population-based cohorts.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Muscle Strength and Physical Performance in Relation to Dietary Intake Among Older Men and Women.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Quantifying the role of nitrogen in achieving global Sustainable Development Goals.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The Association of Diet and Lifestyle Factors With Quality of Life and Self-Rated Health in Older Adults: The Loma Linda Longevity Study.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2026Article
- Healthy Diet for Healthy Minds: Insights from Recent Epidemiological Studies.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
68 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
As the global population ages, it is critical to identify diets that, beyond preventing noncommunicable diseases, optimally promote healthy aging. Here, using longitudinal questionnaire data from the Nurses' Health Study (1986-2016) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2016), we examined the association of long-term adherence to eight dietary patterns and ultraprocessed food consumption with healthy aging, as assessed according to measures of cognitive, physical and mental health, as well as living to 70 years of age free of chronic diseases. After up to 30 years of follow-up, 9,771 (9.3%) of 105,015 participants (66% women, mean age = 53 years (s.d. = 8)) achieved healthy aging. For each dietary pattern, higher adherence was associated with greater odds of healthy aging and its domains. The odds ratios for the highest quintile versus the lowest ranged from 1.45 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.35-1.57; healthful plant-based diet) to 1.86 (95% CI = 1.71-2.01; Alternative Healthy Eating Index). When the age threshold for healthy aging was shifted to 75 years, the Alternative Healthy Eating Index diet showed the strongest association with healthy aging, with an odds ratio of 2.24 (95% CI = 2.01-2.50). Higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats, nuts, legumes and low-fat dairy products were linked to greater odds of healthy aging, whereas higher intakes of trans fats, sodium, sugary beverages and red or processed meats (or both) were inversely associated. Our findings suggest that dietary patterns rich in plant-based foods, with moderate inclusion of healthy animal-based foods, may enhance overall healthy aging, guiding future dietary guidelines.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.