Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Biological Aging

A study conducted by the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention of the IRCCS Neuromed of Pozzilli, in collaboration with the University LUM of Casamassima, demonstrates that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with the acceleration of biological aging, regardless of the nutritional quality of the diet. The results were published in the prestigious journal The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The survey, which involved over 22,000 participants of the Moli-sani Project, used over thirty different blood biomarkers to measure biological age, which, unlike chronological age which depends only on the date of birth, reflects the biological conditions of our body, including organs, tissues and systems.

Thanks to a detailed food questionnaire, researchers were able to estimate the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF), that is, those foods made partly or entirely with substances that are not usually used in cooking (e.g. hydrolyzed proteins, maltodextrins, hydrogenated fats) and that generally contain various additives, such as colorants, preservatives, antioxidants, anti-caking agents, flavor enhancers and sweeteners. Among these, not only packaged snacks or sugary drinks, but also unsuspecting products such as industrial bread, fruit yogurt, some breakfast cereals or ready-made soups, to give a few examples. The study showed that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with a significant acceleration of the biological aging of the organism. In practice, people are biologically older than their actual chronological age.

Biological aging is in fact an “internal clock” of our body, which can tick faster or slower than the years marked on the calendar, reflecting the true state of health of the organism.

“Our data,” says 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 itself, suggesting a connection that goes beyond the poor nutritional quality of these foods.”

“The mechanisms through which ultra-processed foods can damage health are not yet entirely clear – explains researcher Marialaura Bonaccio, head of 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 that actually alters their food matrix, with the consequent loss of nutrients and fiber. This can have important repercussions on a series 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 substances toxic to the body”.

“This study – comments Licia Iacoviello , director of the Epidemiology and Prevention Research Unit of the IRCCS Neuromed and full professor of Hygiene at LUM in Casamassima – invites us once again to rethink dietary recommendations: it is not enough to limit ourselves to nutritional quality, but we must also consider the degree of industrial processing of foods. Even apparently 'healthy' foods, in fact, may have been subjected to manufacturing processes that alter their characteristics”.

Reference: Esposito S, Gialluisi A, Di Castelnuovo A, et al.
Ultra-processed food consumption is associated with the acceleration of
biological aging in the Moli-sani Study. Am J Clin. 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.10.006

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