Home Health Ultra-processed food makes us older than our years, research warns

Ultra-processed food makes us older than our years, research warns

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Ultra-processed food makes us older than our years, research warns

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In recent years, consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) has skyrocketed worldwide, raising concerns about their health implications.

Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations that typically contain ingredients not commonly used in home cooking, such as hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, flavor enhancers and emulsifiers. Examples of these types of foods include chips, soft drinks, instant noodles, ice cream, chocolate, biscuits, ready meals, sausages, burgers, chicken and fish nuggets, sweet or savory packaged snacks and energy bars.

These foods, and the ingredients they contain, are designed for convenience, long shelf life and to increase palatability, but often at the expense of nutritional value.

Now a study led by Monash University has shed light on a particularly alarming consequence: the acceleration of biological aging.

Biological age refers to how old a person appears based on various molecular biomarkers, compared to chronological age, the number of years a person has lived.

A person’s biological age is a relatively new way to measure a person’s health, and can be traced back to 2013, when geneticist Steve Horvath developed the epigenetic clock, which measures DNA methylation levels. DNA methylation is a process that alters the function of genes.

A few years later, a second generation of epigenetic clocks was developed that incorporated environmental variants such as smoking or chronological age. These included the PhenoAge and GrimAge clocks.

In addition to diet, biological age can be influenced by genetics, general lifestyle and environmental factors, and can differ significantly from chronological age.

Someone with a healthy lifestyle may have a biological age younger than their chronological age, while poor lifestyle choices, such as a diet high in UPFs, can accelerate biological aging.

The Monash University study, published in the news Age and agingwas led by nutritional biochemist Dr. Barbara Cardoso, a senior lecturer in the university’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food. It involved 16,055 participants from the United States aged 20 to 79, whose health and lifestyle were comparable to those in other Western countries, such as Australia. The study used the PhenoAge clock to assess biological aging.

A significant association was found between increased UPF consumption and accelerated biological aging. For every 10% increase in UPF consumption, the gap between biological and chronological age widened by about 2.4 months.

Participants in the highest UPF consumption quintile (68-100% of dietary energy intake) were biologically 0.86 years older than those in the lowest quintile (39% or less of dietary energy intake).

Dr. Cardoso said the findings underscored the importance of eating as many unprocessed and minimally processed foods as possible.

“The significance of our findings is enormous, as our predictions show that for every 10% increase in total energy intake from ultra-processed food consumption, there is a nearly 2% increased risk of mortality and 0.5% risk of chronic disease over time of two years.’ she said.

‘Assuming a standard diet of 2000 calories [8500 kilojoules] Adding an additional 200 calories of processed food per day, which is roughly equivalent to an 80 gram portion of chicken tenders or a small chocolate bar, could accelerate the biological aging process by more than two months compared to chronological aging.”

The study used data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010. Diet quality was assessed using the American Heart Association (AHA) 2020 and the Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-15).

The association between UPF intake and biological aging remained significant after adjusting for diet quality and total energy intake, using the above data as baseline.

This suggested that the association could be due to other factors, such as lower intake of flavonoids or phytoestrogens, which are found in natural foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, or higher exposure to packaging chemicals and compounds formed during food processing .

“Adults with higher UPF tended to be biologically older,” the study found. “This association is partially independent of diet quality, suggesting that food processing may contribute to the acceleration of biological aging. Our findings point to a compelling case for targeting UPF consumption to promote healthier aging.”

The results also support previous research linking UPF consumption to aging markers such as telomere length (shorter telomere length is a sign of cell aging), frailty, cognitive decline and dementia.

Dr. Cardoso said that although the study participants were from the US, the relevance of the findings also applies to Australians: ultra-processed foods represented almost 40% of total energy intake on average among Australian adults.

She said that as the world’s population continues to age, demonstrating the adverse effects of UPFs reinforces the need for nutrition-focused public health strategies to extend healthy lifespans.

“Our findings indicate that reducing ultra-processed foods in the diet may help slow the biological aging trajectory, which is another reason to focus on ultra-processed foods when considering strategies to promote healthy aging,” she said.

Mechanisms behind UPFs and aging

Mechanisms by which UPFs may accelerate biological aging include:

  1. Nutrient deficiencies: UPFs are often low in essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which are crucial for maintaining cellular health and preventing oxidative stress.
  2. Chemical additives: Many UPFs contain artificial additives and preservatives that can have adverse health effects, including promoting inflammation and disrupting metabolic processes.
  3. Packaging chemicals: Exposure to chemicals from food packaging, such as bisphenol A (BPA), has been linked to several health problems, including accelerated aging.

Practical steps to reduce UPF intake

To mitigate the adverse effects of UPFs, individuals can take several practical steps:

  1. Increase the number of whole foods: Emphasize whole, minimally processed foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds in your diet.
  2. Read labels: Be aware of food labels and avoid products with long lists of unknown ingredients.
  3. Cooking at home: Preparing meals at home allows for more control over ingredients and cooking methods.
  4. Limit convenience foods: Reduce reliance on ready-made meals and snacks and opt for healthier alternatives instead.

More information:
Barbara Cardoso et al., Association between ultra-processed food intake and biological aging in US adults, findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey NHANES 2003 2010, Age and aging (2024). DOI: 10.1093/aging/afae268. academic.oup.com/ageing/articl … 3/12/afae268/7918804

Provided by Monash University


Quote: Ultra-processed foods make us older than our years, study warns (2024, December 9) retrieved December 9, 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-ultra-foods-years.html

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