You really don’t need us to tell you to step away from that ready meal. Ultra-processed food, we all know, is linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity... But premature aging? Really? According to new research, yes.
An Italian study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that the consumption of ultra-processed foods (or UPFs) is associated with accelerated biological aging (an assessment of your age based not on your birthday but the actual wear and tear accrued by your cells and tissues). Put another way, you may think you’re only 52. But if you stray too frequently into the ready meals aisle of the supermarket, you may find you are actually rather a lot older.
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 22,495 participants, categorising the food they ate on a scale from minimally processed (like fruits, vegetables, meat and fish) to ultra-processed (say fizzy drinks, processed meats and sweet or savoury packaged snacks).
Their biological age was calculated according to 36 different blood-based biomarkers, and the difference between that result and their chronological ages analysed. The results? Those who ate the least UPFs had a biological age that was, on average, around four years lower than their chronological one. The news was not so good for those who ate the most UFPs, however. Their average biological age was 1.6 years higher than their chronological age.
But of course UPFs have this effect, says clinically trained nutritional therapist Lucy Miller: "they lack vitamins minerals, fibre and antioxidants that maintain cellular health. This nutrient gap can cause oxidative stress and cellular damage, key drivers of ageing."
Then, there’s all the sugar and salt lurking within them: "high levels of salt (often found in UPFs) can lead to hypotension and increased oxidative stress," says Miller. "Sugar will spike blood sugar, leading to insulin resistance and oxidative stress, which can damage proteins including our DNA. This can accelerate cellular ageing and increase risk of disease such as diabetes and cardiovascular issues."
Nutritionist Rhian Stephenson agrees that the results make perfect sense: "They’re also low in fibre, and a low fibre dietary pattern is associated with a less diverse microbiome and more inflammation. Inflammation and ageing go hand in hand. Another thing to consider is that if we're eating a lot of UPF which are essentially low in vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, protein, and fibre, we have less room for whole, nutrient dense foods in our diet. Over time, this means we risk becoming very nutrient depleted."
There’s more, however. Researchers also scored the participants’ ‘diet quality’ – its nutritional content, processing aside. When they added these results into the matric, they found that the association between UFPs and premature aging could only partly be explained away by its poor nutritional content. Instead, the study’s authors wrote, its aging impact: "could be mainly influenced by non-nutrient food characteristics which include altered food matrix, contact materials and neo-formed compounds."
In other words, explains Miller: "ultra-processed foods are linked to accelerated aging due to factors that go beyond their poor nutritional content." Both she and Stephenson point to their high levels of artificial additives such as emulsifiers, stabilisers, colourings and flavourings. "These substances can disrupt the gut microbiome, leading to chronic inflammation and reduced immune function, which are both associated with ageing," says Miller.
What happens to these ingredients in the production process can also have an impact, she explains. The high temperatures involved in some food processing can accelerate the production of harmful compounds called advanced glycation end products (or AGEs), and these can also cause cellular damage.
Tempted by that chopped salad now?
