Study Reveals Secret to Aging Well: It’s in the Carbs You Eat

A study finds that consuming high-quality carbohydrates and dietary fiber during midlife is associated with better health in older women.

The food choices we make in midlife could help us stay healthier as we age. Researchers from Tufts University’s Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, along with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that eating more dietary fiber and high-quality carbohydrates in midlife is linked to better health later in life. The findings were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

“We’ve all heard that different carbohydrates can affect health differently, whether for weight, energy, or blood sugar levels. But rather than just look at the immediate effects of these macronutrients, we wanted to understand what they might mean for good health 30 years later,” said Andres Ardisson Korat, a scientist at the HNRCA and lead author of the study. “Our findings suggest that carbohydrate quality may be an important factor in healthy aging.”

To uncover these long-term connections, the researchers analyzed decades of data from the Nurses’ Health Study, which included over 47,000 women. These women were between the ages of 70 and 93 in 2016. Every four years from 1984 to 2016, they filled out detailed food-frequency questionnaires that allowed the team to track their intake of total carbohydrates, refined and high-quality (unrefined) carbs, fiber, and carbs from sources like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. The researchers also calculated each woman’s dietary glycemic index and glycemic load to better understand the broader effects of their carbohydrate choices.

The researchers defined healthy aging as the absence of 11 major chronic diseases, lack of cognitive and physical function impairments, and having good mental health, as self-reported in the Nurses’ Health Study questionnaires. In the new study, 3,706 participants met the healthy aging definition.

Healthier Carbs, Healthier Aging

The analysis showed intakes of total carbohydrates, high-quality carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and total dietary fiber in midlife were linked to a 6 to 37% greater likelihood of healthy aging and several areas of positive mental and physical health. In the other direction, intakes of refined carbohydrates (carbohydrates from added sugars, refined grains, and potatoes) and starchy vegetables were associated with 13% lower odds of healthy aging.

“Our results are consistent with other evidence linking consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes with lower risks of chronic diseases, and now we see the association with physical and cognitive function outcomes,” said senior author Qi Sun, associate professor in the departments of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.

The authors note as a limitation that the study population was composed mostly of white health professionals; future research will be necessary to replicate these findings in more diverse cohorts.

Ardisson Korat also noted that additional work is needed to understand the potential mechanisms linking dietary fiber and high-quality carbohydrates to healthy aging.

“Studies are starting to find an association between food choices in midlife and quality of life in later years. The more we can understand about healthy aging, the more science can help people live healthier for longer,” added Ardisson Korat.

Reference: “Dietary Carbohydrate Intake, Carbohydrate Quality, and Healthy Aging in Women” by Andres V. Ardisson Korat, Ecaterina Duscova, M. Kyla Shea, Paul F. Jacques, Paola Sebastiani, Molin Wang, Sara Mahdavi, A. Heather Eliassen, Walter C. Willett and Qi Sun, 16 May 2025, JAMA Network Open.
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.11056

The study was supported by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and by the National Institutes of Health under award numbers K12TR004384, R01DK120870, U2CDK129670, R01DK127601, R01HL060712. The Nurses’ Health Study is supported by the National Institutes of Health under award numbers UM1CA186107, P01CA087969, R01HL034594, R01HL035464, and R01HL088521.

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