What to Eat to Live Longer: From Olive Oil to Medicinal Mushrooms

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What to Eat to Live Longer: From Olive Oil to Medicinal Mushrooms

Longevity — it's an eternal question! We explore what to eat to live longer: from olive oil to medicinal mushrooms.

The search for longevity has become one of the defining wellness conversations of the decade. People want to live longer, of course, but the conversation has shifted toward something deeper: how to live well for as long as possible.

Nutrition plays a central role in that story. Researchers consistently find that what people eat shapes everything from metabolic health to inflammation levels and gut microbiome balance — factors that influence how the body ages over time.

At the same time, scientists are beginning to explore new and unexpected tools for healthy aging. Alongside foods like leafy greens, legumes, and olive oil, emerging research is now examining medicinal mushrooms— as possible contributors to longevity and healthier aging.

But how can we relate this to our actual daily lives?

Longevity Starts With Everyday Food

The foundation of long-term health often begins with simple daily choices. Once you get the hang of it, the underlying principles are remarkably straightforward.

Research consistently shows that dietary patterns based on whole, minimally processed foods are associated with longer life and better health outcomes.

A study published in 2023 in the Journal of Internal Medicine examined how lifestyle choices influence life expectancy. The researchers found that combining a healthy diet with other low-risk lifestyle factors could extend disease-free life expectancy by 8–10 years.

Globally, diet remains one of the largest health risk factors. The study estimates that 11 million premature deaths each year are linked to unhealthy dietary patterns, including excessive sodium and trans-fat intake and low consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and omega-3 fatty acids.

According to the report, adhering to five key low-risk lifestyle habits could potentially extend life by 14 years for women and 12 years for men. Those habits include:

Never smoking
Maintaining a healthy body weight
Engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily
Consuming alcohol in moderation
Eating a high-quality diet

Taken together, these factors represent a powerful approach to healthy aging.

Lessons From the World’s Longest-Lived Communities

Many researchers studying longevity turn to the world’s Blue Zones (regions where people routinely live well into their 90s and beyond.)

Across these communities, the diets share similar themes. They prioritize whole foods with minimal processing, emphasizing plants, fiber, and healthy fats.

Longevity research highlights consistent dietary patterns built around a handful of nutrient-dense staples, rather than relying on a single “superfood,”

Leafy Greens

Vegetables like spinach, kale, and arugula are rich in folate, magnesium, and polyphenols, compounds linked to reduced inflammation and improved cardiovascular health — two key markers of aging well.

Berries

Berries contain high levels of anthocyanins, antioxidants associated with improved cognitive health and reduced oxidative stress.

Olive Oil

One of the most well-known longevity foods, olive oil supplies monounsaturated fats and polyphenols that benefit both heart and brain health.

Legumes

Beans, lentils, and chickpeas appear in every Blue Zone diet. They provide fiber that supports gut health and plant-based protein that helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Nuts

Walnuts and almonds deliver healthy fats and micronutrients that support cellular health and cardiovascular function.

Fermented Foods

Foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut nourish the gut microbiome, a complex ecosystem that plays a role in immune function, inflammation control, and even mood regulation.

Whole Grains

Grains such as oats, quinoa, and farro provide slow-release carbohydrates and fiber that support metabolic stability as people age.

Medicinal Mushrooms

Mushrooms have been part of traditional medicine for centuries, and modern research is giving scientists plenty of reasons to take a closer look.

Reishi, in particular, has attracted serious scientific attention. Traditionally known as lingzhi, it contains compounds including beta-glucans and triterpenes, which have been investigated for their antioxidant, immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory properties.

Research into medicinal fungi including reishi, shiitake, lion’s mane, cordyceps, chaga, maitake and oyster mushrooms has found lifespan and healthspan effects in organisms including worms, flies and mice. These findings have led researchers to investigate whether compounds produced by fungi could eventually contribute to human longevity medicines.

A 2026 review of mushrooms and healthy ageing highlights several potential mechanisms, including effects on oxidative stress, inflammation, metabolism, immune function and cellular health.

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How To Add Medicinal Mushrooms To Your Lifestyle

The easiest place to start is with food. Shiitake, maitake, oyster and other edible mushrooms can be cooked into stir-fries, soups, pasta, risotto, eggs or grain bowls. You're getting fibre, vitamins, minerals and a range of mushroom-derived compounds without needing a fancy supplement.

For medicinal species such as reishi, which is tough and bitter when eaten whole, teas, powders and extracts are more common. Reishi has traditionally been prepared as a decoction or tea, while modern products often come as capsules or standardised extracts.

Lion’s mane and cordyceps are also widely available as food powders and extracts, although human evidence for longevity specifically remains limited. If you use supplements, look for products that clearly state the mushroom species, whether they contain fruiting body or mycelium, and how much active extract they provide.

Think of medicinal mushrooms as one interesting piece of the longevity puzzle — not a replacement for the considerably less glamorous stuff that matters too: good food, regular movement, quality sleep, social connection and not smoking.

What to Limit for Healthy Aging

Just as important as what people add to their plates is what they reduce. While we’re not into telling people what they should or shouldn’t do, there are some tips that can set you in good stead, based on research.

For example, ultra-processed foods often contain additives that signal heavy industrial processing. Some of these ingredients may also disrupt gut health and metabolic balance when consumed frequently.

Researchers often highlight several categories to watch closely:

Emulsifiers such as polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose, which emerging research suggests may affect gut lining integrity
Large quantities of artificial sweeteners, which can alter gut bacteria and appetite regulation
Excess sodium preservatives, linked to hypertension and cardiovascular strain

These foods tend to displace whole ingredients that provide fiber, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds.

Healthy longevity diets support the body through three main biological mechanisms:

Reducing chronic inflammation
Maintaining stable blood sugar and metabolic health
Supporting a diverse gut microbiome

These processes influence how the body ages at the cellular level.

The Future of Longevity

Healthy aging research consistently points toward a combination of lifestyle habits — nutritious whole foods, regular movement, emotional wellbeing, and strong social connections.

For now, the foundations remain clear: vegetables, berries, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, a diet centered on real food, and a little space for medicinal mushrooms.