A person’s biological age is a relatively new way of measuring a person’s health. This refers to how old a person appears to be based on various molecular biomarkers.
Researchers at Australia’s Monash University said that a person with a healthy lifestyle can have a biological age lower than their historical age, while poor lifestyle choices, such as a diet high in UPF, can accelerate biological ageing. .
The study, published in the journal Age and Aging, included 16,055 US participants aged 20 to 79 and showed that for every 10 percent increase in UPF consumption, the difference between biological and historical age increased by approximately grows up 2.4 months.
Participants in the highest UPF consumption quintile (68–100 percent of their dietary energy intake) were biologically 0.86 years older than those in the lowest quintile (39 percent or less of energy intake). .
Nutritional biochemist Dr Barbara Cardoso, a senior lecturer in the university’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, said the findings highlighted the importance of eating more unprocessed and less processed foods.
“Our findings are significant, as our predictions show that for every 10 percent increase in total energy intake from ultra-processed food consumption, the risk of death increases by about 2 percent and the risk of chronic disease by 0.5 percent. Goes two years,” he added.
UPFs are industrial formulations that typically contain ingredients not commonly used in home cooking, such as hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, flavor enhancers, and emulsifiers.
These foods are high in salt, sugar, fat and other unhealthy elements and are designed for convenience and a long shelf life.