There are people who wake up before work to prepare a full breakfast, maybe whipping up eggs, protein pancakes, or even freshly squeezed juice. And while this is certainly admirable, we can't all drag ourselves out of bed with enough time to get in the kitchen. But before you reach for that box of cereal, you may want to reconsider your morning routine. According to new research, a high intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with accelerated aging. And these include many quick, easy, and popular breakfast foods.
RELATED: 8 "Healthy" Foods That Are Actually Ultra-Processed, Dietitians Share.
The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed data from over 22,000 Italian participants aged 60 to 80. The researchers looked at 36 biomarkers to evaluate biological age.
"Unlike chronological age, that depends exclusively on the date of birth, biological age reflects the biological conditions of our body, including organs, tissues and systems, and can differ from the chronological age," they explain in a press release.
They then had participants log their food consumption to determine their intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are defined as those containing "substances not routinely used in the kitchen," such as hydrolysed proteins, maltodextrins, and hydrogenated fats, as well as those that contain additives such as dyes, preservatives, antioxidants, anticaking agents, flavor enhancers, and sweeteners.
"Ultra-processed foods include not only packaged snacks or sugary drinks, but also apparently 'harmless' products such mass-produced or packaged bread, fruit yogurt, some breakfast cereals or meat alternatives, to give a few examples," the press release notes.
Biological age increased for those who consumed more than 14 percent of their daily calories from UPFs. And the harmful effects of UPFs don't stop there: Research ties UPFs to an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.
A study published earlier this year, which analyzed data from 100,000 otherwise healthy people over the course of 30 years, found that those who consumed seven or more daily servings of UPFs had a four percent higher risk of all-cause mortality. This research found processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages (like soda), and artificially sweetened beverages (like diet soda) to be the most dangerous.
Likewise, a study published in September found that artificially sweetened drinks and processed meats are the two most dangerous UPFs.
However, the current research stands out for including UPFs like cereal and packaged bread in their findings.
RELATED: 3 Nutritionists Share the No. 1 Ultra-Processed Food They Won't Eat.
"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. This can have important consequences for a series of physiological functions, including glucose metabolism, and the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota," said study author Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD, nutritional epidemiologist at the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention-IRCCS Neuromed. "Also, these products are often wrapped in plastic packaging, thus becoming vehicles of substances toxic to the body."
"Actually, some nutrient-dense packaged foods can be classified as ultra-processed, and this suggest the need of guiding people towards dietary choices that address also the degree of food processing," added fellow study author Licia Iacoviello, MD, PhD, director of the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention at the IRCCS Neuromed and full professor of Hygiene at LUM in Casamassima.
