Studies have shown that heavy consumption of ultra-processed foods may be linked to accelerated biological aging. Researchers now say that frequent consumers of large amounts of ultra-processed foods may biologically be aging faster, making them biologically older than their chronological age.
Italian researchers analyzed data from more than 22,000 participants in the Moli-sani Study, one of Europe’s largest cohort studies with the aim of identifying risk factors for chronic diseases. The study appears online in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers said a faster biological aging pace is highly associated with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods, independent of the overall nutritional quality of diets. Biological aging is the gradual deteriorating of cellular function with time, whereas chronological aging is measured by years passed in one’s life. Accelerated biological aging has been associated with increased susceptibility to most diseases and conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This co-authored publication is by the research Simona Esposito of the Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare, IRCCS Neuromed.
She said, “The association between UPF consumption and biological aging appears to be related to something more profound than poor nutritional characteristics of these foods.” She added that that the preparation techniques that come with ultra-processed foods, aside from having fewer nutrients, can affect aging.
Such foods include mass-produced bread, sugary breakfast cereals, ice cream, certain fruit-flavored yogurts, and packaged snacks. Generally, these contain artificial additives, preservatives, sweeteners, and unhealthy fats-all of which have been associated with greater health risks, including hypertension, heart disease, and even preterm death.
The study was carried out on the basis of analyzing 36 biomarkers of blood and dieting information from the participants. The scientists measured each participant’s biological age; compared it with his chronological age, thus making the link between the high UPF consumption and the acceleration of biological aging.
According to the opinion of Marialaura Bonaccio, nutritional epidemiologist at IRCCS Neuromed, severe industrial processing can strip away the substantial nutrients and fiber from the diet, disrupting bodily functions like glucose metabolism and gut health. This would add to the growing evidence with regard to health risks related to diets with ultra-processed foods.
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