Although we are aware they might not be the best options for our waistlines, many of us consume frozen foods and packaged snacks out of convenience. But new research has suggested that not only can these foods contribute to weight gain and other health issues, but they could also cause us to age more quickly.
Scientists have discovered that people who consume higher amounts of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) show signs of accelerated biological aging compared to those who eat fewer of these heavily manufactured food products.
The findings come from a team at the IRCCS Neuromed Mediterranean Neurological Institute in Italy who analysed data on more than 2,000 adults.
UPFs refer to foods such as packaged snacks, carbonated drinks, reconstituted meat products, and instant noodles.
They are often high in additives, artificial colours, sweeteners, and preservatives you wouldn’t find in your home kitchen.
Shockingly, statistics from 2023 show that around 57 percent of the food we eat in the UK is classed as ultra-processed.
The study, which was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, explained that participants whose diets contained the highest proportion of UPFs (more than 14 percent of total food consumed by weight) showed biological ageing acceleration of about four months compared to those who ate the least amount of UPFs. While this may not seem like much, over years or even decades this has a large cumulative effect.
Within the study participants, processed meat products made up the largest portion of UPF consumption at 17.6 percent. This was followed by cakes and pastries at 14.2 percent, and fruit drinks at 10.9 percent.
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As reported by Study Finds, participants who consumed more UPFs tended to be younger, more educated, and more likely to live in urban areas. They were also less physically active and had fewer chronic diseases at the time of the study, however, the researchers note this could be due to their younger age.
Study co-author Marialaura Bonaccio explained: “The mechanisms through which ultra-processed foods can be harmful to human health are not yet entirely clear. 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 fibre.
“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.”
Previous studies have connected UPF consumption with various health concerns, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But the research doesn’t suggest you need to completely remove ultra-processed foods from your diet – but study authors advised limiting their consumption and opting for less processed alternatives when possible.
“This study 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,” Licia Iacoviello, director of the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention at the IRCCS Neuromed, said. “Actually, some nutrient-dense packaged foods can be classified as ultra-processed, and this suggests the need of guiding people towards dietary choices that address also the degree of food processing.”
As part of the study, the researchers recruited 22,495 adults from Italy’s Molise region between 2005 and 2010. Participants filled out detailed food frequency questionnaires about their eating habits over the previous year, covering 188 different food items.
Researchers classified foods according to their level of processing using the NOVA classification system, particularly focusing on ultra-processed foods. To measure biological ageing, they used a sophisticated artificial intelligence approach that analysed 36 different blood biomarkers, creating a “biological age” score that could be compared to participants’ actual age.