Summary: Ultra-processed foods are linked to accelerated biological aging, as confirmed in a study analyzing over 22,000 people. Researchers found that these foods, high in additives and preservatives, speed up the body’s internal aging clock, independently of nutritional quality. These findings underscore the potential need for dietary guidelines that also consider food processing levels and encourage whole food consumption to promote long-term health.
Key Facts:
- High ultra-processed food intake is associated with accelerated biological aging, measured by blood biomarkers.
- Ultra-processed foods, rich in additives and low in fiber, can impact glucose metabolism and gut health.
- Biological aging reflects the body’s true health status, which may differ from chronological age, highlighting the risks of diets high in processed foods.
Source: IRCCS
A study conducted by the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention at the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed in Pozzilli, in collaboration with the LUM University of Casamassima, shows that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with the acceleration of biological aging, regardless of the nutritional quality of the diet.
The results were published in the prestigious journal The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Italia researchers analyzed data on over 22,000 participants from the Moli-sani Study, one of the largest population cohorts in Europe, and used over thirty different blood biomarkers to measure biological age.
Unlike chronological age, that depends exclusively on the date of birth, biological age reflects the biological conditions of our body, including organs, tissues and systems, and can differ from the chronological age.
Using a detailed food frequency questionnaire, researchers were able to estimate participant’s consumption of ultra-processed foods, that is foods made in part or entirely with substances not routinely used in the kitchen (e.g., hydrolysed proteins, maltodextrins, hydrogenated fats), that generally contain various additives, such as dyes, preservatives, antioxidants, anticaking agents, flavour enhancers and sweeteners.
Ultra-processed foods include not only packaged snacks or sugary drinks, but also apparently ‘harmless’ products such mass-produced or packaged bread, fruit yogurt, some breakfast cereals or meat alternatives, to give a few examples.
The study showed that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with a significant acceleration of the biological aging of participants. Basically, people turned out to be biologically older than their actual chronological age.
Biological aging is in fact an “internal clock” of our body, which can tick faster or slower than the years marked on the calendar, reflecting the true state of health of the organism.
“Our data – says Simona Esposito, researcher at the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention and first author of the study – show that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods not only has a negative impact on health in general, but could also accelerate aging itself, suggesting a connection that goes beyond the poor nutritional quality of these foods”.
“The mechanisms through which ultra-processed foods can be harmful to human health are not yet entirely clear – explains researcher Marialaura Bonaccio, nutritional epidemiologist at the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention-IRCCS Neuromed.
“Besides being nutritionally inadequate, being rich in sugars, salt and saturated or trans fats, these foods undergo intense industrial processing that actually alters their food matrix, with the consequent loss of nutrients and fiber.
“This can have important consequences for a series of physiological functions, including glucose metabolism, and the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota. Also, these products are often wrapped in plastic packaging, thus becoming vehicles of substances toxic to the body”.
“This study” – adds Licia Iacoviello, director of the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention at the IRCCS Neuromed and full professor of Hygiene at LUM in Casamassima – “prompts us once again to reevaluate the current dietary recommendations, that should also include warnings on limiting the intake of ultra-processed food in our daily diet.
“Actually, some nutrient-dense packaged foods can be classified as ultra-processed, and this suggest the need of guiding people towards dietary choices that address also the degree of food processing”.
About this aging and diet research news
Author: Americo Bonanni
Source: IRCCS
Contact: Americo Bonanni – IRCCS
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Ultra-processed food consumption is associated with the acceleration of biological aging in the Moli-sani Study” by Simona Esposito et al. Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Abstract
Ultra-processed food consumption is associated with the acceleration of biological aging in the Moli-sani Study
Background
Healthy diets have been inversely associated with biological aging. However, the nutritional content is only one aspect of the overall food health potential, and more recently, increasing attention has been paid to nonnutrient food characteristics, such as food processing.
Objectives
To examine the association of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption with biological aging measured by circulating blood biomarkers.
Methods
Cross-sectional analyses were conducted on 22,495 participants enrolled in the Moli-sani Study (2005–2010, Italy). Food intake was assessed by a 188-item food frequency questionnaire. UPF was defined according to the Nova classification and calculated as the ratio (weight ratio; %) between UPF (g/d) and total food eaten (g/d). Diet quality was assessed by the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS; ranging 0–9). A deep neural network approach based on 36 circulating biomarkers was used to compute biological age (BA), and the resulting difference (Δage = BA − chronological age)—an index of biological aging—was tested as dependent variable in multivariable linear regression analyses including known risk factors.
Results
The mean Δage in this population was −0.70 (standard deviation ±7.70) years. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, higher intake of UPF was associated with accelerated Δage [β = 0.34 years; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08, 0.61 for the last fifth compared with the first). This association was not linear (P value for overall association <0.001; P value for nonlinearity = 0.049). Inclusion of the MDS into the model slightly attenuated this association by 9.1% (β = 0.31 years; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.59).
Conclusions
A diet rich in UPF was associated with an acceleration of biological aging in a large sample of Italian adults. The poor nutritional composition of highly processed foods weakly accounted for this association, suggesting that biological aging could be adversely influenced by nonnutrient characteristics of these foods.
