If you want to live a longer life, your diet might be more important than you realise. One study found that in the UK, we could expect to enjoy 10 years more life by eating “more whole grains, nuts and fruits and less sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meats”.

The Mediterranean diet, meanwhile, has been linked to better heart health, a longer life, and even a lower likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.

Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, GP and ex-Embarrassing Bodies host Dr Dawn Harper said that “there is no one single silver bullet that will enhance your chances of living a long and healthy life… when I read claims that a single ‘super food’ will achieve just that, I tend to glaze over”.

She, among other experts, believes that your overall eating pattern is what matters. The odd inclusion of one food or another will neither save nor condemn your health (unless you have allergies, of course!).

With that caveat, some research has found that certain foods can encourage healthy ageing, while others could increase issues related to getting older.

Here are some to consider when thinking about your overall diet:

2013 research, which followed roughly 120,000 participants over 30 years, found that the more often people in the study ate nuts, the lower their risk of early death seemed to be.

Eating them daily was linked to a 20% lower likelihood of dying throughout the study.

Regular nut consumption has also been associated with longer telomeres (a marker of slower ageing), a lower risk of sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, and better cognition in older adults.

It sounds obvious, but yep, fruits and vegetables do seem to help us live longer. A 2014 meta-analysis showed that a higher consumption of fresh produce is linked to a lower risk of mortality, especially heart-disease-related deaths.

Eating vegetables could help to slow the effects of ageing thanks to bioactive compounds that help to keep your cells healthy, while older adults who eat more fruit and veg report higher levels of happiness and a greater sense of purpose.

The reason these fruits have such a rich, deep colour is because they contain lycopene, a carotene. Our levels of lycopene go down as we age, which is a shame, as researchers think not having enough of it could be linked to an increased likelihood of conditions like diabetes, stroke, and prostate cancer.

Here in the UK and in other Western countries, tomatoes account for about 80% of our lycopene consumption. BTW, tinned tomatoes have a higher lycopene content than fresh ones: tomato paste has even higher levels.

Extra-virgin olive oil has been associated with the “preservation of physical function and reduced pain perception in ageing” among physically active adults, a 2026 paper concluded.

Researchers think that might be because of its “healthy” monounsaturated fatty acids, potentially brain-boosting polyphenols, and antioxidants.

Some data suggest that eating oily fish is linked to better cognitive function in later life.

And it could help your sight, too: research shows that eating fatty fish, like mackerel, pilchards, salmon, sardines, and herring might protect against age-related macular degeneration, a progressive condition that can lead to vision loss.

The British Heart Foundation recommends eating at least one portion (140g when cooked) of oily fish a week.

It’s not great to overdo it on the sweet stuff at any age. But when we age, too much sugar appears to be linked to an increased risk of frailty – especially among older adults who get a lot of their added sugars through processed foods, a 2018 paper suggests.

Meanwhile, a 2024 study found that a vitamin-rich diet lower in sugar seemed to be associated with a lower biological age (biological age refers to a person’s cell-level wear and tear and is different from how long they’ve lived, or their chronological age).

Its co-senior author, Professor Elissa Epel, said: “We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor.

“Now we know that accelerated epigenetic ageing is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity.”

A study has found that eating processed meats, like sausages, bacon, ham, salami, corned beef, and pâté, seemed to be linked to shorter telomeres.

Telomeres are structures that humans have at the ends of our chromosomes and which keep our cells working better for longer; shorter telomeres are linked to a shorter life.

And another paper said that for every extra daily serving of processed meat, participants’ cognitive ageing speed rose by 1.6 years.

The NHS said that no matter your age, “If you currently eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red or processed meat a day, it is recommended that you cut down to 70g”.

We already know exercise is crucial for health – and can be protective against everything from heart disease and stroke, to dementia and even some types of cancer.

The NHS suggests adults should aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week (or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week). Ideally, spread over four to five days.

Two of these days should focus on strengthening activities, the health service added.

And a new study has suggested as little as four minutes of daily strengthening exercise can dramatically improve quality of life for older adults.

Routine length and pain are just some of the reasons why fewer older adults regularly exercise, the authors of the study – published in PLOS One – noted.

Co-author Smita Dandekar, associate professor of paediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine, said exercise is “complicated” as you have to decide how many repetitions, how far, how many sets, how much rest and how many times per week.

“It’s hard work, so there’s huge problems with people wanting to do exercise. If we can make it short, we’re part way there,” she said.

Previously, the team had conducted a study where 24 older adults performed 30 seconds of push-ups and squats daily, resulting in improved squat performance over six months.

For the new study, they tested the effects of a program, called FAST-2, to see if it improved mobility and physical capability in over-65s.

A total of 97 participants (average age of 74) were randomly assigned to receive either the exercise regimen treatment or no intervention.

FAST-2 involved four exercises:

Participants performed each movement for 30 seconds followed by a 30-second rest. Written explanations and modifications were provided for the exercises, such as performing pushups with hands on a countertop or wall, or chair stands with hands on the knees.

As participants improved, they were encouraged to progress to higher levels of difficulty.

Researchers assessed the participants’ ability and speed at standing up and ability to stand on one leg at the beginning, middle and end of the study.

The authors found that this exercise regimen, which included only 60 seconds of lower body resistance training, was enough to give significant improvements in functional performance over 12 weeks.

Lead author Christopher Sciamanna, professor of medicine and of public health at Penn State College of Medicine, said: “The human body is designed to improve very quickly. And just a few repetitions of an exercise performed regularly can lead to huge improvements.”

Over the last few years, Tom Holland has become one of the most beloved stars in Hollywood.

With two movies currently in cinemas that are heading towards billion-dollar status – The Odyssey and Spider-Man: A Brand New Day – audiences clearly can’t get enough of the British actor.

But it’s not just his acting work that the world has fallen in love with.

Since shooting to fame as a Marvel superhero, Tom has created multiple viral moments, whether he meant it or not, while his upbeat positivity and apparent total lack of cynicism have helped him stand out from many of his peers.

Here are just some of the moments that cemented his place as one of the most popular stars around today…

Tom’s acting career got started when he was still a child, and at the age of 12, he was cast in the West End production of Billy Elliot. He initially played Michael, Billy’s best friend, before taking on the title role.

In an unearthed clip from his West End days, a very, very young looking Tom talks about his experience auditioning for the show.

“I used to go to a street dance club,” the tiny Tom recalls. “And we did a show in White Lodge, the ballet school… and the headmaster, he spotted me. He was like ‘we want you to audition for Billy Elliot’, and I was like ‘Ah, fair do’s’… okay I’ll go for it.”

In the old interview, he talks about how “strict” his training was, claiming: “We can’t muck and just do stupid stuff on the floor because we have to be safe because you’re doing flips and dangerous stuff.”

Another childhood interview of Tom Holland came back to haunt him back in 2021, when promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home with his future wife Zendaya.

In the resurfaced clip, a young Tom was heard starting to sing, unprompted, mid-interview.

“I can’t really explain it, I haven’t got the words… it’s a feeling that you can’t control,” he belted out, seemingly from nowhere.

Zendaya has called the moment a favourite of hers, even recreating it during press for the Marvel film.

Since the clip was unearthed, it has gone on to become a popular meme, with fans and interviewers often trying to shoe-horn “I just can’t explain it,” into their exchanges with the actor.

Nowadays, Tom and Zendaya are known as one of the most private and low-key romances in Hollywood, but a decade ago, the now-couple were often seen going head-to-head in online challenges on social media.

Tom, Zendaya and choreographer Deja Carter went viral in the summer of 2016 for doing an online dance known as the Typo Challenge.

It’s rare to see such candid footage of the couple in 2026, so we love seeing them hanging out in their sweatpants. The clip was apparently filmed in Zendaya’s basement during the early days of their romance.

Judging by these moves, we just know their first dance was a moment.

Tom found a pretty resourceful way to get around the egg shortage during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the height of lockdown, Tom was as panicked as the rest of us when his local shop ran out of eggs. Instead of getting annoyed, the Marvel star and his brothers decided to take matters into their own hands, and bring home some chickens, so they would never run out of eggs.

He adopted a set of chickens, named Predator, Ranger and Chestnut, whom he raised in his garden.

“There’s no eggs; we have no eggs. So we thought to solve that problem, we would become the source of eggs. Now, we’re the owner of chickens,” he said in an Instagram video at the time.

Tom has repeatedly become an accidental meme over the years, but in April 2020 he intentionally joined in on a viral trend.

He got involved with a social media challenge during lockdown where he did a handstand against a wall while also trying to put on a T-shirt. Impressive though the move, most people were more distracted by how ripped the young actor looked while doing it.

He had been nominated by fellow Billy Elliot alum Ollie Gardner to attempt the trick, before calling on his Spider-Man: Far From Home co-star Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and his school friend Harrison Osterfield to try it out themselves.

Jake was the first to respond, writing on his own Instagram story: “Wait, what’s the challenge??? Shirtless heavy breathing??”

The Oscar-nominated actor proceeded to do the handstand trick, although Ryan was less motivated, simply replying “no” on his own Instagram.

Being one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood with a huge career doesn’t stop Tom and his co-star Jacob Batalon from being big kids.

In June 2018, in honour of Tom’s 22nd birthday, Zendaya shared footage of the two Spider-Man stars having a lightsaber battle.

Filmed in a dark room that made their blue and red lightsabers pop even more, Tom got a bit overexcited during their mock duel, trying to use his Spidey skills to spin and kick his co-star, only to wind up breaking Jacob’s lightsaber completely.

“You idiot,” Zendaya could be heard saying from behind the camera.

Tom is a fantastic actor, a talented dancer and seems like a genuinely nice guy. Is there anything he can’t do? Well, apparently so – and that’s keeping a secret.

In fact, Tom is notorious for accidentally spoiling his films while promoting them, almost giving away huge plot points to some of the biggest movies of the last decade before any of us have had a chance to see them.

One of the earliest instances of Tom’s loose lips came during a livestream promoting Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which he told the audience about a scene where he had to be repeatedly dumped in water.

While this was only a minor spoiler, it went viral due to Tom’s panicked expression in the immediate aftermath.

Years later, his most notorious spoiler came when promoting Avengers: Infinity War.

Tom told Jimmy Kimmel that he had filmed scenes in space, letting slip a major plot point about his character – and there was even worse to come.

During a screening of that Avengers film, he didn’t realise that he would greeting audiences before the movie, rather than afterwards.

“Don’t worry everybody, I’m still alive!” he said, presuming the audience had just watched him fade away with Thanos’ snap.

Even as recently as this year, when promoting Spider-Man: A Brand New Day, he let slip that “no one remembers that I’m Spider-Man apart from one” during an interview with IGN – although thankfully, Zendaya cut him off before he was able to do any more damage and give away the whole film’s plot.

Tom had his The Notebook moment after attending a carpentry school in Cardiff.

When he hit a low in his acting career following 2015’s In The Heart Of The Sea, his mother enrolled him on the course so he could have a skill to fall back on if Hollywood didn’t work out.

“I went through a phase in my career where I was too old to play a child but too young to play a teenager,” he explained to Jimmy Kimmel during an appearance on his chat show.

“My mum’s side of the family are all carpenters, so my granddad taught me when I was young.”

This skill even helped him impress Zendaya in the early days of their relationship.

“I fixed my girlfriend’s door once really early on in our relationship,” Tom said in Unilad’s Get A Job! video series in 2023. “I was hanging out at her house and her door was broken. I was like, ‘I’m gonna fix that door for you’. And now, we’re in love!”

We don’t just love Tom because of his quirky online videos and childhood interviews – he also won us all over with his caring and charitable nature.

In 2016, when filming Spider-Man: Homecoming, he took time to visit a children’s hospital in Atlanta. The then-20-year-old hung out with young patients at Egleston Hospital dressed as Spider-Man.

Afterwards, he took to Instagram to share photos of the visit, writing: “Meeting you all today was such a wonderful experience and you’re all such little inspirations. We’re proud of you and we love and we hope to be back soon… and thank you for having us, Egleston Children’s hospital.”

He also runs The Brothers Trust, a charity founded by his parents in 2017. They leverage Tom’s star power and popularity to raise awareness for various global health, social and educational causes.

Tom and Anthony Mackie have shared a light-hearted rivalry since promoting Captain America: Civil War a decade ago.

It all started when Peter Parker easily took on Anthony’s character Falcon and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier in the film. Tom would frequently joke about his 14-year-old character going toe-to-toe, and beating, older and more experienced superheroes.

Anthony (and, sometimes, Sebastian) would frequently joke back about the young star needing “juiceboxes” and “handlers” to look after him on-set.

During a Comic-Con interview in 2018, Anthony claimed he had never even seen Spider-Man: Homecoming, to which Tom joked: “I haven’t seen the Falcon one – oh no wait, there isn’t one! I’m sorry.”

Anthony has repeatedly insisted that the banter is all done in good faith, proving that Tom can take a joke and throw shade when he wants to.

“Tom Holland is my friend. That’s why I make fun of him. I love the kid. He’s a great, great kid. He’s the best Spider-Man we’ve had – but he’s an arrogant little shit. And I stress: little,” he quipped to Wired in 2019.

Another meme-worthy moment from the British actor came in 2017 when he tried to say the word croissant.

While discussing breaking his strict diet after filming In the Heart Of The Sea, Tom pronounced the French pastry as “quackson”, a moment his fans clung to and turned into a meme.

Ever since, Tom has brought up this mispronunciation multiple times, admitting his frustration because he believed he had said it correctly.

Zendaya even called him out for the mispronunciation, telling him “you do say it with a qua,” during a Wired autocomplete interview.

“Short King” Tom and Zendaya joked during a 2021 appearance on The Graham Norton Show about how her taller stature helped her catch him when a Spider-Man: No Way Home stunt went wrong.

“Spider-Man swings us on top of a bridge and he places me there. … So he’s supposed to gently rest MJ on the bridge and walk away from her,” the Euphoria actor explained.

But according to Zendaya, the two were attached together for the stunt, and because of her height, she would land before him.

“So Zendaya would land. And I’m the superhero, I’m supposed to look cool. And I would land and my feet would swing from underneath me and then she would catch me,” he explained. The two then stood up to demonstrate how the landing played out during filming.

Tom is about two inches shorter than Zendaya, although with her love of So Kate stilettoes it can often look like more of a stark difference.

During press appearances, Tom and Zendaya have even dismissed the public focus on their height difference as “thinly veiled misogyny” and “ridiculous” stereotyping, including during one 2021 SiriusXM interview.

We love how much Tom Holland loves dogs, and fell head over heels with his blue Bull Terrier named Tess, who even accompanied him to the premiere of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Recently, he and Zendaya have also welcomed Noon, a Miniature Schnauzer and Daphne, a Doberman Pinscher, into their lives.

This affection for dogs is especially on show during BuzzFeed’s puppy interview series.

He loves his dogs so much that when he’s away from home, they are the things he misses the most.

Dominic Holland, Tom’s dad, noted on his personal Substack that after the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere, Zendaya and Tom couldn’t stop talking about their furry family members.

“The main topic of conversation was not Spider-Man…But their dogs; how much they had missed them and how keen they were to be reunited,” he recalled about the car ride home after the premiere.

Who of us hasn’t tried to slide into a celeb’s DMs at one point or another? Well, clearly Tom Holland is no different.

The Uncharted actor was left “humbled” when he sent Norwegian footballer, Erling Haaland a message, inviting him for dinner and got no response.

Tom saw the Manchester City forward in a hospitality suite at a Formula 1 race, and decided to slip him a message.

“[There was] not even a response, not an excuse, not ’I’m busy tonight, I’m playing football. Nada,” he told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show.

However, after The Tonight Show shared the clip, the footballer finally responded.

“Dinner invitation accepted @tomholland2013,” Haaland commented on the post. “A little late… Just name the place!”

Meanwhile, the sports star previously told his version of the story on the Norwegian version of The Assembly.

“This is a bit embarrassing, to be completely honest,” he said. “We were in Monaco at the Formula 1, and then I got a message. I don’t watch movies much, so I have no idea who people are.

“There was one asking if we could go out for dinner, but I’d never seen him, so I didn’t bother to answer. I didn’t want to answer an unknown person.”

Many stars have claimed they got sick after appearing on Hot Ones with Sean Evans – but Tom Holland is the only one to actually do it on camera.

In a recent appearance with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey co-star Jon Bernthal, Tom threw up after eating the show’s signature fiery chicken wings.

Tom had struggled throughout the show with the spicy food, but after they finished eating the wings of death, he couldn’t take it any more.

Standing up after the challenge to pose for a photo with the host, the actor started coughing before bending over and throwing up.

The MCU star took it in his stride, immediately laughing the incident off.

When Sean noted that it might be the “first on set” vomit, Tom and Jon laughed once more.

“I love being the first,” he said.

Earlier in the interview, when Tom started to struggle, he told Sean he “could black out.” Grabbing a glass of milk, the actor added, “It’s amazing how the milk helps and then immediately it comes right back.”

Although less memorable than his recent visit to the set of Hot Ones, we also recommend watching his very first sit-down with Sean Evans. It’s a masterclass in being charming and self-deprecating, while also struggling with very spicy food.

There are quite simply too many adorable and hilarious moments between Tom and his now-wife Zendaya that we couldn’t pick just one.

Audiences have followed the duo as they went from flirty co-stars to a married couple in their 30s, watching Zendaya giggle over Tom’s jokes and Tom gush over Zendaya on the red carpet.

At the premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom even got distracted when he heard the crowd react to Zendaya’s arrival, and looked just as obsessed with The Drama actor as the rest of the world.

More recently, at the world premiere of The Odyssey, he also took a moment on the red carpet to admire his fashion-forward wife in her white structural dress.

Of course, we had to end this list with the ultimate Tom Holland viral moment.

Back in 2017, Tom and Zendaya went on Lip Sync Battle to promote Spider-Man: Homecoming. At this point, people who weren’t as familiar with Tom thought he was just another young actor, without realising how much experience he already had as a dancer.

Zendaya had already performed to 24k Magic by Bruno Mars when Tom came out and gave one of the most iconic performances in recent years.

He started the performance in a suit, paying homage to Gene Kelly and dancing to Singin’ In The Rain, when the lights dropped, the rain machine kicked in and he ripped off his suit to reveal a leotard, wig and fishnets in an homage to Rihanna.

The rest is pop culture history.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the viral moment in 2023 he explained: “I’ve grown up in the most non-toxic-masculine environment possible. I didn’t realise what I was doing was so forward-thinking. I was just like, ‘Yeah, fuck it, I’ll put some fishnets on and dance in the rain. That’ll be really fun. I don’t care’.” He added that he’s still “proud” of the scene, and claimed during a more recent appearance on Good Hang with Amy Poehler, that he is still more recognised for this routine than “any piece of work I have ever done.”

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in cinemas now.