Study warns: Ultra-processed foods may accelerate biological age

A recent study from Monash University, Australia, highlights the alarming impact of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) on biological aging. The research warns that regularly consuming foods like chips, biscuits, sausages, burgers, soft drinks, and instant noodles could speed up the aging process, leading to an accelerated biological age.

Biological age is a relatively new concept that measures a person’s age based on molecular biomarkers, offering a more accurate reflection of health than chronological age. While a healthy lifestyle can result in a biological age younger than one’s actual age, poor lifestyle choices, especially a diet rich in UPFs, can speed up aging, according to the study.

The research, published in the journal Age and Aging, involved 16,055 participants from the United States, aged 20 to 79. The findings revealed that for every 10 percent increase in UPF consumption, biological age increased by approximately 2.4 months. Participants in the highest quintile of UPF consumption (68-100 percent of their total calorie intake) were biologically 0.86 years older than those in the lowest quintile (39 percent or less of their total energy intake).

Nutritional biochemist Dr. Barbara Cardoso, a senior lecturer at the University’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food, emphasized the importance of minimizing UPF intake. “For every 10 percent increase in total energy intake from ultra-processed foods, the risk of mortality increases by nearly 2 percent, and the risk of chronic disease rises by 0.5 percent over two years,” she explained.

UPFs are industrially processed foods that often contain ingredients not typically used in home cooking, such as hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, flavor enhancers, and emulsifiers. These foods are designed for convenience, long shelf life, and are often high in unhealthy elements like salt, sugar, and fats.

This study underscores the importance of adopting a diet rich in unprocessed and minimally processed foods to maintain a healthier, biologically younger age and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.