# Main Dietary Patterns for Healthy Aging and Well-Being

## TL;DR

This paper reviews three dietary patterns—Mediterranean, plant-based, and Nordic—that may promote healthy aging and well-being.

## Contribution

The paper identifies shared foods across three diets and their potential roles in healthy aging through various biological pathways.

## Key findings

- Shared foods in the three diets may positively influence aging pathways and oxidative stress.
- Current research on these foods does not fully cover all aging-related biological processes.
- Further investigation is needed on key aging hallmarks like nutrient sensing and cellular senescence.

## Abstract

Life expectancy around the world has increased significantly in recent decades, but chronic diseases and an aging population have also grown considerably. Accordingly, the world’s research attention has increasingly focused on the study of possible dietary patterns that can promote healthy aging and the well-being of individuals. Method: This review exposes three different dietary patterns that share various foods which, individually, could promote healthy aging. Following an intensive literature search, the choice of dietary patterns included the Mediterranean diet, the plant-based diet, and the Nordic diet. Results: The foods selected in this review, with the aim of promoting healthy aging and individual well-being, are those shared by the three diet patterns (Mediterranean diet, plant-based diet, and Nordic diet). In particular, the possible positive effects of these foods were investigated through the study of various pathways involved in the aging process, as well as oxidative stress, which underlies aging itself. Conclusions: Although the results are very encouraging, as they show a beneficial effect of the aliments examined, to date, many hallmarks of aging, as well as its characteristic pathways, are not concretely investigated, especially considering the foods examined. For example, deregulated nutrient sensing, stem cell exhaustion, and cellular senescence are additional important hallmarks that are not currently examined.