Study Reveals Link Between High Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Accelerated Biological Aging

A new study has linked high consumption of ultra-processed foods to accelerated biological aging. Conducted in Italy, the study analyzed over 22,000 participants from the Moli-sani Study—one of Europe’s largest population cohorts—and was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The research, which was conducted by the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention at the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed, in collaboration with LUM University of Casamassima, used more than thirty blood biomarkers to measure biological age. According to the study, biological age is a concept distinct from chronological age in that it reflects the biological condition of organs, tissues, and systems. Unlike chronological age, which corresponds to a person’s birthdate, biological age is a marker of how “young” or “old” the body is functioning.

Data on participants’ dietary habits, gathered through detailed food frequency questionnaires, enabled researchers to estimate the consumption of ultra-processed foods. These foods include items with ingredients not typically used in home kitchens, such as hydrolyzed proteins, maltodextrins, hydrogenated fats, and a variety of additives like dyes, preservatives, and flavor enhancers. Examples of ultra-processed foods range from sugary drinks and packaged snacks to more inconspicuous items such as mass-produced bread, fruit yogurt, certain breakfast cereals, and some meat substitutes.

Results from the study showed that a diet high in ultra-processed foods is linked to accelerated biological aging.

“Our data show that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods not only has a negative impact on health in general, but could also accelerate aging itself,” said Simona Esposito, a PhD student and first author of the study, “suggesting a connection that goes beyond the poor nutritional quality of these foods.”

The exact mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods affect human health remain unclear. “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,” said Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist and researcher with the study. “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.”

For integrative practitioners, these findings highlight the importance of dietary guidance that takes into account the level of food processing, which may be an important factor in promoting healthy aging.

“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,” said Licia Iacoviello, PhD, director of the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention at the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed and professor of Hygiene at LUM University. “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.”