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At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Joan Collins walked the red carpet looking decades younger than her 93 years, prompting the usual flood of questions about her secret. The Dynasty legend has answered that question directly in past interviews, naming a single food she eats nearly every day of her life.
Collins has said plainly that she eats an avocado every single day, pairing the habit with regular facial treatments in New York. She has repeated the claim across multiple interviews over the years, always singling out the same food. Nutritionists have long pointed to avocados as one of the more research-backed additions to an anti-aging diet, but the reasons go beyond taste or trend.
For decades, fat of any kind carried a bad reputation in nutrition circles. Dietitian Patricia Ortega, who works with the World Avocado Organization, says avocados provide monounsaturated fats, the kind tied to healthier cholesterol levels. These fats also help the body feel full for longer, which can curb the constant snacking that undermines a balanced diet over time.
Beyond fat, avocados carry between 6 and 7 grams of fiber per 100 grams, a substantial amount for a single food. That fiber feeds beneficial gut bacteria and supports regular digestion. According to Ortega, most people fall short of daily fiber recommendations, a gap linked to bloating, constipation, and sluggish digestion. Closing that gap can produce noticeable improvement within weeks.
Avocados also supply vitamin E and other antioxidant compounds that help protect cells from oxidative stress, a process scientists connect to cellular aging. The fruit is no cure for wrinkles or gray hair. Swapping it in for ultra-processed snacks or foods heavy in unhealthy fats can support steadier energy levels and a more consistent nutritional baseline over time.
For Collins, avocado sits inside a wider philosophy of moderation rather than restriction. She has said she avoids extreme diets and junk food but still allows herself an occasional glass of wine or dessert. According to Collins, she doesn’t deprive herself of anything but also doesn’t overeat, a balance she has described as easier to sustain across decades than any strict regimen.
Experts recommend building avocado into balanced meals rather than eating it alone. Common suggestions include spreading it on whole wheat toast with tomato and egg, adding it to salads with vegetables and legumes, blending it into guacamole or chilled soups, pairing it with fish, chicken, or eggs, or mixing it with nuts and seeds. Its staying power also makes it a popular breakfast choice.
Diet is only half of Collins’ routine. She trains with a physiotherapist for roughly thirty minutes most days, swims regularly, and does Pilates-style strength exercises with a personal trainer a few times a week. She credits movement as much as diet for her mobility, and says the combination gives her more energy than her age suggests it should.
Specialists separate the food from the myth. No single ingredient can transform long-term health on its own, nutrition experts say. The real benefit shows up when foods like avocado are folded into a broader, sustained lifestyle that includes rest, movement, and stress management. Isolated superfoods make for good headlines, but consistency across years does the actual work.
Collins’ avocado habit is an ordinary food, repeated daily for years, paired with physiotherapy, swimming, and a diet built on moderation rather than deprivation. At 93, her appearance reflects that accumulation of ordinary choices, not one ingredient. The lesson isn’t the avocado itself. It’s the decades of showing up for the habit built around it.
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