For many people, the new year means new opportunities to develop better habits, like meditating or going to the gym. If one of your 2026 resolutions is to eat healthier, the world’s leading longevity experts offer easy ways to get started.
Dr. Valter Longo told CNBC Make It in 2024, “I recommend what I call the longevity diet, which is taken from a variety of things: both the Okinawan diet and the Mediterranean diet.” Longo is director of the Longevity Institute at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Most popular diets suggested by experts to help you live a healthier, longer life focus on whole foods like fruits and vegetables and healthy proteins like beans and salmon. Diets like the DASH meal plan also require you to limit or avoid ultra-processed foods like pizza and donuts.
“It doesn’t matter what dietary program you follow as long as you avoid ultra-processed foods,” Dr. Darshan Shah told CNBC Make It earlier this year.
In addition to these proven tips, several other longevity experts we interviewed this year shared some lesser-known hacks for eating well.
3 unique hacks to eat well in the new year
1. Buy local, seasonal produce
Dr. Simon Feldhaus is a physician with 30 years of experience, about half of which has been spent researching longevity. “Personally, I don’t think there is a healthy diet,” he told Us in November.
Feldhaus is also President of the Swiss Association for Anti-Aging Medicine and Prevention and Chief Physician of the Swiss Hub of The Balance Rehabilitation Clinic.
He focuses on whole foods, but also has something more specific in mind. “I only eat vegetables that are in season,” he said.
“It’s almost fall or winter now, so why should I eat strawberries when they’re not growing?” He’s also intentional about where he sources his ingredients to get the best quality possible.
Buying local produce can have benefits beyond improving the taste of your food. The more time that passes between the time a produce is harvested and the time it is eaten, the more likely its nutritional content and value are reduced, registered dietitian Wendy Lopez told the American Heart Association in 2024.
“Vitamins, especially vitamin C, degrade during storage, meaning apples that have been stored for several months may have lower levels of certain nutrients compared to freshly harvested apples,” Lopez said.
For a complete list of what’s in season year-round, see the USDA’s SNAP-Ed Connection Seasonal Produce Guide.
2. Think about the order in which you eat your food.
Dr. Suzanne Ferry, a human performance expert, has been researching longevity for nearly a decade and helps patients, typically between the ages of 45 and 65, develop lifestyle habits for optimal health outcomes.
One such habit she suggests is to focus on how you eat, rather than what you eat.
“The order in which you eat your food is important, so eating vegetables first, protein next, and carbohydrates, including drinks, last is the right way to go,” Ferry said in October.
“It helps slow the absorption of glucose, preventing blood sugar levels from rising too quickly.”
As Ferry explained, the process of ordering food is what experts call “meal sequencing.” This is a particularly beneficial habit for people with diabetes or pre-diabetes, writes registered dietitian Jessica Hernandez in an article on the Ohio State University Health Blog.
3. Make your own “fast food”
Sometimes the food choices you make are simply based on convenience. Michiko Tomioka, a Japanese nutritionist and longevity expert, understands that and has a solution.
Tomioka believes that by making his own version of fast food at home, he can “maintain health without sacrificing convenience.”
When Tomioka wants something hearty like a burger or fries, she makes roast potatoes, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes with olive oil, garlic, and a little cinnamon. The great thing about this recipe is that all you have to do is season the vegetables and then toss them in the oven.
If you want to satisfy your sweet tooth with foods like donuts, make whole grain rice balls instead, or toast the bread and top it with nut butter and banana.
To learn more about Tomioka’s fast food alternatives and how to hold yourself accountable when you want takeout, check out the article she wrote for CNBC Make It in September.
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