Nutrition as a Cultural-Biological Regulator of Ageing: The Concept of Ethnonutrigerontology

Nutrition is one of the most modifiable determinants of ageing and longevity. However, most contemporary studies in nutrigerontology focus on universal biological mechanisms and often overlook cultural variations in dietary behavior. The aim of this conceptual review is to propose and theoretically substantiate Ethnonutrigerontology (ENuG), a newly coined interdisciplinary framework that conceptualizes nutrition as a cultural-biological regulator of ageing by linking culturally patterned dietary models to biological ageing mechanisms and later-life functional resilience. Unlike broader biocultural ageing frameworks, ENuG explicitly positions nutrition as the primary mediating mechanism connecting cultural systems to ageing biology. A conceptual synthesis of 60 peer-reviewed publications (1999-2025) was conducted using literature retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. This study was designed as a theory-building conceptual synthesis rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis. Sources addressing the interrelation between nutrition, culture, and ageing were thematically analysed to identify structural gaps between biomedical and anthropological approaches. ENuG integrates three analytical levels - cultural-anthropological, biomedical, and gerontological - and formulates the causal sequence "Culture → Nutrition → Biology → Ageing → Functional resilience" as a heuristic model. Traditional diets, such as those of Okinawa, the Caucasus, and the Andean regions, have been associated in the literature with characteristics consistent with geronto-adaptive patterns, including metabolic balance, lower inflammatory burden, and favorable longevity indicators within their ecological and cultural contexts. As a proposal framework, ENuG is intended to generate testable hypotheses and guide future mixed-method empirical research rather than to provide causal proof.

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