How to Slow the Accumulation of Diseases Through Diet
- Minhoo Jeong
- Nov 19
- 3 min read
Minhoo Jeong
Nov 19, 2025
In recent years, global attention and investment have increasingly focused on slowing the aging process. In 2013, Google invested $1.5 billion to establish Calico, a research company dedicated to studying the biology of aging, declaring its goal to extend human lifespan and enhance health through long-term investment. In 2022, Altos Labs was launched with $3 billion in private funding to research cellular rejuvenation, attracting major investors like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and venture capitalist Yuri Milner, further fueling public interest.
The reason such massive resources and talent are flowing into aging research is clear: with life expectancy already extended, the question is no longer “How long can we live?” but rather “How healthy can we remain?” If science can uncover the mechanisms of aging and develop treatments to reverse them, aging would no longer be an unavoidable fate — it would become a challenge to overcome.
Fortunately, slowing down aging isn’t limited to medical treatments. A growing body of research suggests that everyday diet plays a key role in how quickly our bodies age. Diets rich in vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and unsaturated fats (such as olive oil) are known to reduce inflammation and protect blood vessels. In contrast, diets high in sugary drinks, processed meats, and refined grains promote systemic inflammation and increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Recently, scientists have even introduced the concept of a “pro-aging diet,” emphasizing how certain eating patterns may accelerate biological aging beyond one’s chronological age. In essence, food choices can influence how quickly or slowly our bodies grow older.
But can diet do more than prevent specific diseases — could it also slow down the overall rate at which multiple age-related diseases accumulate? Researchers from Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University in Sweden recently provided an answer.
In a study published in Nature Aging in August, they followed over 2,500 older adults for 15 years, analyzing how dietary patterns affected accelerated multimorbidity — the rate at which chronic diseases accumulate over time. Unlike earlier studies that focused on the risk of individual diseases, this one examined how quickly multiple conditions emerge as people age.
The concept of accelerated multimorbidity can be compared to warning lights on a car’s dashboard. As a car ages, its engine, tires, and battery may show warning signals one by one. Likewise, as humans age, various body systems — cardiovascular, neurological, skeletal, and metabolic — may develop problems. Some people accumulate these “warning lights” rapidly, while others do so much more slowly.
The research team used medical records and diagnostic data to calculate the rate at which new diseases developed over time.
Higher scores indicated stronger adherence to each diet.
Analysis revealed that MIND, AHEI, and AMED diets — all centered around plant-based foods, fish, whole grains, and olive oil — significantly slowed the accumulation of chronic diseases. The most noticeable effects were in cognitive, mental, and cardiovascular health, where disease onset occurred more slowly.
In contrast, those following the EDII (inflammatory) diet experienced faster disease accumulation. Interestingly, musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis did not show major differences between diets, likely because factors like exercise, hormones, and injury have a stronger influence in those areas.
Although the degree of dietary impact varied by age and gender, the overall conclusion was clear: A healthy, plant-based diet can slow down the pace at which diseases accumulate — effectively delaying the biological aging process itself.
