Eating Junk Food Just Might Accelerate The Aging Process For You
We all have a bag of chips in our pantry that’s perfect for a quick snack or a frozen meal sitting in our freezer, which makes weekday dinners easier.
But while these options are quick, cheap, and convenient, it’s no secret that they’re not exactly healthy and can lead to weight gain.
Now, a new study conducted by researchers at the IRCCS Neuromed Mediterranean Neurological Institute in Italy has shed light on even farther-reaching impacts of junk food.
The findings suggest that consuming high amounts of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) may actually accelerate biological aging.
According to Harvard Health, “Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from foods, such as fats, starches, added sugars, and hydrogenated fats. They may also contain additives like artificial colors and flavors or stabilizers.”
Some common examples are hot dogs, instant noodles, soft drinks, packaged cookies, and fast food. And if you’ve ever wondered why such unhealthy food tastes so delicious, they’re actually designed to be “hyper-palatable,” or very tough to stop consuming.
For the study, over 22,000 adults from Italy’s Molise region were analyzed. The researchers found that individuals whose diets included the highest proportion of ultra-processed foods, or over 14% of their total food by weight, experienced biological aging that was roughly four months faster than those who consumed the least UPFs.
To assess biological aging, which is distinct from chronological aging, the team used artificial intelligence and deep neural networks. They examined 36 blood biomarkers related to metabolism, inflammation, and organ function.
This analysis provided the participants with a “biological age” score, which was compared to each participant’s actual chronological age.
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Processed meat accounted for 17.6% of ultra-processed food consumption, the largest share. Cakes and pastries came in second at 14.2%, and fruit drinks followed at 10.9%.
Those with higher UPF intake were generally younger, more highly educated, and more likely to reside in urban regions. And despite being less physically active, they still had fewer chronic illnesses at the time of the study. The researchers believe this may be attributed to their younger age.
However, perhaps the most compelling part about this study is how the link between UPFs and accelerated aging persisted, even when the researchers accounted for the overall nutritional quality of each participant’s diet. This remaining association suggests there is something about the processing itself that influences our body’s aging, not just the unhealthy levels of sugar or salt in the foods.
There are some possible explanations. For instance, acrylamide, which is formed during high-temperature processing, is often in ultra-processed foods and may heighten inflammation and oxidative stress. Plastic packaging chemicals could also make their way into the food and interrupt normal biological processes.
According to study co-author Marialaura Bonaccio, the mechanisms aren’t fully clear in spite of UPFs’ harmful effects.
“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 fiber,” Bonaccio said.
“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.”
It’s important to note that the researchers are not advising people to cut ultra-processed foods from their diet entirely. Rather, it’s wise to take inventory of your current diet and purchase items that are less processed whenever feasible.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, visit the link here.
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