A high consumption of ultra-processed foods accelerates biological aging

According to an investigation by Irccs Neuromed, by consuming high quantities of ultra-processed foods people become biologically older than their chronological age.

• Ultra-processed foods, consumed in large quantities, lead to an acceleration of biological aging.
• The association comes from an Italian study by Irccs Neuromed which involved 22 thousand participants.
• The survey demonstrates the importance of considering, in addition to nutritional quality, also the degree of food processing.

A high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with the acceleration ofbiological aging, regardless of the nutritional quality of the diet:This is what emerged from a study conducted by the I.V. epidemiology and prevention research unitrccs Neuromed of Pozzilli, in collaboration with the Lum University of Casamassima and published in the magazine The american journal of clinical nutrition.

“Our data – said the researcher Simona Esposito, first author of the study – show that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods not only has a negative impact on general health, but could also accelerate aging, suggesting a link that goes beyond the poor nutritional quality of these foods” .

The study that associates the consumption of ultra-processed foods with biological aging

The investigation involved more 22 thousand participants of Moli-sani project:researchers have used further thirty different blood biomarkers to measure thebiological age – which, unlike chronological age, reflects the biological conditions of our body, including organs, tissues and systems – and they examined the food questionnaires regarding the consumption of ultra-processed foods.

According to the results,  a high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with asignificant acceleration of thebiological aging of the organism.This means that, evaluating the state of health of the organism, people are biologically older than their actual chronological age.

Pay attention to the degree of food processing 

“The mechanisms through which ultra-processed foods can damage health are not yet fully understood,” explained the researcher Marialaura Bonaccio, responsible for studies on nutrition and health at Irccs Neuromed.“In addition to being inadequate from a strictly nutritional point of view, being rich in sugars, salt and saturated or trans fats, these foods undergo intense industrial processing which actually alters their food matrix, with the consequent loss of nutrients and fibers .This can have important repercussions on a number of physiological functions, including glucose metabolism, and the composition and functionality of the intestinal microbiota.It should also not be forgotten that these products are often sold in plastic packaging, thus becoming vehicles of toxic substances for the body".

The scholars therefore underline that it is not enough to limit ourselves to the nutritional quality of foods, but it is also necessary to consider the degree of industrial food processing.In fact, too apparently healthy food products such as packaged loaf of bread or fruit yoghurt, may have been subjected to manufacturing processes that alter their characteristics.