Food is overrated and huge amounts like consumed in BB circles age the shit out of you. Once i get older I’ll stick to 2 meals a day ...
Getting older myself [I'll be 38 next month], I am absolutely on the same page as you: eating is overrated.
Sure, yeah, to be the best bodybuilder you can be, you do need calories, but as far as organ integrity is concerned...I see an inverse relationship - more food = reduced organ health. This is possibly specific to the digestive system, but I suspect overeating ages all of the systems of our bodies.
I believe Mike Francois said something to this effect on the old Pro Bodybuilding Weekly podcast way back in the day. Either former Getbigger Tim Fogarty stated that colon cancer was almost always related to HPC [receiving anal sex?]. I can't recall if Francois had colon cancer, or some other colon issue.
Either way, your point remains - more food = more organ concerns.
Specifically your point on aging is one I subscribe to. I feel like I've not been myself these past 2-3 years, and I've disproportionately aged in that time. I think if I keep calories low now, start cardio [something new to me], and adjust my training a little to prevent injuries while still lifting heavy [heavy for me - and achieving this through longer warm-ups], I will be able to both get good results [for me], while aging at a slightly slower pace.
It's interesting seeing how much older some bodybuilders looked like than actual age. In 1999, Markus Ruhl was only 27 years old, and someone on here said he looked mid-60's in this photo. That may be a bit of an exaggeration - but I could see someone think he is 45 or 50 in this shot.
I'm willing to trade some quantity of life for quality of life...but I just don't think that taking bodybuilding to a high level really produces much of either. It's sad, but that's just how I see it.