If you want to live a long time, the most radical thing you can do is to restrict your calories. The problem is that most people would rather die—literally—than eat like a hostage for the rest of their lives. But whether you restrict your calories or not, the road to longevity and health is paved with good nutrition. Not all foods are created equal—some foods cause cancer, while others have been proven to fight it. Some foods promote heart disease, while others can help reverse it. It also matters when and how often you eat. The good news is that the food choices that will earn you the most extra years are the same ones that will keep you healthy at any age.

Maintain a healthy weight. This means not only eating well and exercising but watching your waistline. Obesity contributes to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Extra weight strains the heart. Dean Ornish recommends a diet composed primarily of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and soy—low-fat foods that are low in inflammatory substances and high in protective ones.

Eat many small meals. The old advice about eating three square meals a day—and avoiding snacks between meals—is wrong. The body can only handle so many calories at a time before it starts storing the excess as fat. Most people eat nothing between noon and six o'clock in the evening; by the time dinner rolls around, they're so hungry that they wind up binging. Studies show that eating less food more often will not only help you stay slim, but also reduces blood cholesterol, reduces stress in the body, and reduces blood insulin levels.

Consume fish. The oil in fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, which help produce blood platelets and reduce inflammation. Three grams a day can reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack by 50 percent, lower your triglycerides, ease pain from arthritis, help prevent cancer, and supercharge the brain. A recent study showed that women who took fish oil when pregnant or lactating boosted their children's IQ by several points. The best way to get it: eat fish, such as salmon, mackerel, or halibut. Next best is to take fish oil supplements from which contaminants have been removed. If you're a vegetarian, try flax. Keep freshly milled flax seed in an airtight container in the fridge and add it to other foods.

Eat vegetables. Fruits and veggies are loaded with antioxidants, and they're color-coded so you can tell which vitamins they have. Blue-reds, like cherries, plums, and pomegranates, contain vitamin C and anthocyanins. Dark greens like spinach, kale, and broccoli contain chlorophyll, which has strong anticancer benefits. Deep oranges like squash, sweet potatoes and yams contain carotenoids such as beta carotene. And reds, such as tomatoes and grapefruit, contain lycopene, which fights cancer and heart disease. The darker the color, the more antioxidants it contains—that's why blueberries have more antioxidants than any other food.

Drink coffee and tea, especially green. Coffee has been scapegoated for all kinds of ills over the years, but studies suggest that everyone should drink coffee or tea for the health benefits. Drinking coffee cuts the risk of colon cancer, and the people who drink the most coffee have the lowest risk. It also seems to ward off liver cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. Caffeine in general appears to protect against skin cancer.

Tea of all kinds contains polyphenols, powerfully protective antioxidants that help fight free radicals. The polyphenols in tea dilates arteries, lowers blood pressure, and reduces the likelihood of blood clots. Adding milk to the tea, though, seems to negate its benefits. Green tea is made from unfermented leaves, and as a result, has a higher concentration than black tea. Green tea reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's, but conclusive studies on human populations have yet to be done, which is why the FDA recently declined to allow manufacturers to make such claims on tea packages.

God knows my discipline is far from Buddha-like. I'm only human and I have occasional—OK, fine, chronic—lapses. But I try hard to be good, and my best days look something like this:

• I wake up after eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
• Breakfast: A bowl of oatmeal or whole-grain, high-fiber cereal; a fruit. A glass of vegetable powder with water; multivitamin; fish oil capsule; resveratrol capsule.
• Midmorning: A cup of green tea.
• Lunch: Spinach salad with salmon (for omega-3s), broccoli, tomatoes, red onion, roasted peppers.
• Mid-afternoon: An orange and a pint of blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
• Gym: 45 minutes of high-intensity cardio on the elliptical machine or 1 hour of resistance training. (I try to go to the gym six days a week: weights every other day, cardio on the off days, and one day of rest.)
• Post-gym: A sugar-free protein shake.
• Dinner: Fish or chicken breast with vegetables, with a glass of red wine.
• Evening: Glass of fruit powder with water; multivitamin; resveratrol capsules.

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