Modern society punishes us by aging earlier. Relying on advanced medicine and pharmacology for prevention and control raise concerns about long-term safety. Therefore, diet-driven nutritional anti-aging strategies are being strongly promoted. Phenolics are natural treasures from dietary sources and contain the potential for anti-aging and disease prevention. Based on this, the review first describes the exploration and development of markers indicating aging. The potential and mechanisms of phenolics in managing aging are further synthesized. The morphology, preparation methods, and recent advances in nano strategies suitable for clinical oral delivery are reported to provide a feasible basis for resource integration of phenolics. Finally, its application is comprehensively considered, and constructive comments are made regarding challenges and future development. Even though relevant products have appeared on the market, achieving compliance and commercialization still faces multiple constraints and many challenges, which place greater demands on integrating new strategies and regulating the market.