Ready meals, frozen pizza, sodas, and even a supermarket loaf could be ageing you faster, alarming new research suggests.
Italian researchers have found people who eat more ultra-processed-food (UPF) have increased signs of biological ageing.
Biological ageing is a scientific term for how old the cells and tissues of your body appear, according to how well they function.
This can differ from your chronological age – the number of birthdays you’ve had.
In the new study, which examined the diet and biological age of just over 22,000 Italian adults, experts found those who ate more UPFs were about four months on older biologically than their chronological age.
In contrast, those who ate the least UPFs were found to be on average two months younger than their biological age.
While the difference is small, the findings add to growing concern that high consumption of UPFs is linked to health problems including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer and death.
The authors, from the Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed, said their study didn’t establish exactly how UPFs might accelerate ageing.
Ready meals, frozen pizza, sodas, and even the humble supermarket loaf could be aging you faster, alarming new research suggests. (Stock image)
In the new study, which examined the diet and biological age of just over 22,000 Italian adults, experts found those who ate more UPFs were about four months on older biologically than their actual chronological age
But they added that, after accounting for the participants’ overall diet, the ageing couldn’t be explained by the fat, sugar and salt content in UPF alone.
They instead suspected another factor related to UPFs could be the explanation behind increased ageing.
Simona Esposito, an expert in epidemiology and lead author of the study explained: Our data show that a high consumption of UPFs not only has a negative impact on health in general, but could also accelerate aging itself, suggesting a connection that goes beyond the poor nutritional quality of these foods.’
The authors suggested two possibilities that could explain how UPFs could be linked to biological ageing.
The first is that UPFs tend to be higher in acrylamide, a neurotoxic chemical that forms when food is processed at high temperatures.
They cited research that high acrylamide exposure has been linked with ‘increased oxidative stress and inflammation’ – both of which are thought to be precursors to some of the UK’s biggest killers.
The second is that UPFs are typically wrapped in plastic.
This means UPF eaters could be at risk of chemicals form the packaging leaking into the food and potentially consuming them.
While many non-UPF foods are also wrapped in plastic, the authors theorised that as UPFs tend to have longer shelf lives, there is more time for chemicals to leak into the foods.
Marialaura Bonaccio a nutritional epidemiologist, and fellow author of the study said: ‘These products are often wrapped in plastic packaging, thus becoming vehicles of substances toxic to the body’.
UPFs are a staple of the modern British diet and is an umbrella term that covers a host of foods packed with artificial colourings, sweeteners and preservatives that extend shelf life
Another author of the study, Professor Licia Iacoviello, Director of the Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed’s research unit of epidemiology and prevention, said their study added to calls for more to be done to warn consumers about UPFs.
‘This study prompts us once again to reevaluate the current dietary recommendations, which should also include warnings on limiting the intake of ultra-processed food in our daily diet,’ she said.
The authors, who published their study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, came to their conclusions after examining diet data and biological markers of ageing taken from 22,495 Italian adults.
Biological markers of ageing included signs of inflammation in the body as well as metabolism and organ function, all measured via blood tests. This data was used to calculate a biological age for each participant.
Researchers then compared this data to the amount of UPFs participants’ consumed according to questionnaires, and identified patterns.
The study had a number of limitations, which the authors acknowledged.
Firstly, the study is observational meaning the researchers cannot be certain UPF consumption was behind the increased biological ageing, rather than another factor.
The second was that participants’ dietary information was collected via questionnaire, meaning people could be mistaken in reporting how much UPF they consumed.
UPFs cover a host of food and drinks packed with artificial colourings, sweeteners and preservatives as well as, typically, calories and sugar.
Examples include ready meals, ice cream and even ketchup.
They typically undergo multiple industrial processes which research has found degrades the physical structure of foods, making it rapid to absorb.
This in turn can raise the risk of blood sugar spikes and peaks, reducing satiety.
It has also been said to damage the microbiome — the community of ‘friendly’ bacteria that live inside us and which we depend for good health.
UPFs are thought to be a key driver of obesity, which costs the NHS around £6.5billion a year.
However, experts have repeatedly urged caution about linking UPF consumption to health problems.
Many find the term UPF too broad as it considers a wholemeal loaf of bread, which has some health benefits, and a ready meal packed with salt, fat and sugar, as the same type of food according to its classification system.
This, some experts argue, can make it unclear which UPFs might be causing particular health problems.
Researchers have also highlighted that UPFs themselves might not be directly causing health problems observed in studies.
Instead, they’ve suggested eating lots of UPFs could be a symptom of other issues like poverty which can reduce people’s intake of fresh fruit and vegetables.