Eating just one chocolate bar or a packet of chips a day can increase your biological age by several months, according to new research from a Melbourne university.
Researchers from Monash University looked at the diets of 16,000 people in the US to analyse the correlation between chronological age and biological age.
The research found that if just 10 per cent of a standard 2000 calorie adult diet came from ultra-processed foods like biscuits, fizzy drinks and instant noodles, a person’s biological clock could age by as much as 2.4 months.
“Adults with higher ultra-processed foods tended to be biologically older,” the study found.
Monash University researcher Dr Barbara Cardoso said despite the obvious adverse health effects of ultra-processed foods, the connection between junk food and biological ageing was under-investigated.
“Adding an extra 200 calories of ultra-processed food, which roughly equals an 80-gram serving of chicken bites or a small chocolate bar, could lead to the biological ageing process advancing by more than two months compared to chronological ageing,” Cardoso said.
“By increasing biological age to that extent, we can increase mortality by 2 per cent.”
Chronological age refers to the time passed since a person’s birth, while the age at which your body functions is represented by biological age and can be different to chronological age based on lifestyle and genetics.
According to Cardoso, ultra-processed foods represented almost 40 per cent of total energy intake among Australian adults.
Other ultra-processed foods include chips, carbonated drinks, ice cream, chocolate, ready-to-eat meals, sausages, burgers, chicken and fish nuggets, sweet or savoury packaged snacks and energy bars.
The experts say a diet free of processed foods is the best option, but they also found having an overall healthy diet can help offset the negative impact of ultra-processed foods.
The results of the study suggested higher exposure to packaging chemicals and compounds formed by ultra-processed foods may be another factor in advanced biological ageing.
Lower intake of whole foods containing plant nutrients called phytoestrogens could also contribute to the survey findings, Monash University said.
