Healthy eating in middle age has this key longevity benefit

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Montreal also contributed to the study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The researchers analyzed diet and health data for more than 105,000 women and men aged 39 to 69 over a 30-year period, drawn from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. 

They also investigated the participants' consumption of ultraprocessed foods containing added sugars, sodium and unhealthy fats.

Participants who ate more processed foods had less likelihood of healthy aging, with processed meat and sugary or diet beverages named as the biggest culprits.

"Our findings suggest that dietary patterns rich in plant-based foods, with moderate inclusion of healthy, animal-based foods, may promote overall healthy aging and help shape future dietary guidelines," said co-corresponding author Marta Guasch-Ferré, associate professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen and adjunct associate professor of nutrition at Harvard Chan School, in the release.

Sherry Coleman Collins, a food allergy dietitian and expert from the Atlanta metropolitan area, was not involved in the study but reviewed the findings.

"This data helps emphasize the importance of how we eat throughout life, in particular at midlife, on our ability to remain healthy and strong into our golden years," she told Fox News Digital. 

Most of the beneficial diets in the study were primarily plant-based, Collins noted.

"They aren't all vegetarian or vegan, but they all include an eating pattern made up of primarily fruits, vegetables, whole grains, foods high in unsaturated fats, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds."

The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged - chiefly that it was limited to only health professionals. 

Further studies are needed to confirm the findings with more diverse populations, they said.

The Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study were supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Other support was received from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the release stated.

Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.