We're all going to age, and there's nothing we can do about it. Despite our best attempts to seem young and remain young, our bodies will wrinkle and gray hairs will appear, and our minds will (ideally) get smarter through time. Nonetheless, certain of our behaviors on this planet, like what we consume, have the potential to add many more years to our lives. This is why it's critical to break any bad dietary habits that speed up the aging process, such as consuming ultra-processed meals on a daily basis.
Ultra-processed foods are precisely what they sound like: packaged goods with a large list of unknown components, a long shelf life, and little nutritional value. Sure, these dishes are a once-in-a-blue-moon delicacy (like scarfing down a bag of chips after a long hike, no judgment). However, when it comes to developing holistic, healthy habits that will help you live a long life, consuming ultra-processed meals on a daily basis will undoubtedly age you faster—studies have shown this.
The harmful consequences of ultra-processed meals on the human body
Dr. Joan Ifland, PhD, MBA, FACN, creator of The Food Addiction Reset, states, "Many physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral distresses may be linked back to processed foods." "They've been linked to aging symptoms including brain fog, weariness, bloating, depression, high blood pressure, joint pain, and more," according to the researchers.
Eating ultra-processed foods has been linked to accelerated shortening of telomeres, which are cells in the body that shorten with age, as well as cell aging, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, and again referenced in a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dr. Ifland explains, "Processed meals have been found to interact with important biological processes in our body." "Medical experts blame the discomfort of processed food-related impairment to age since they are typically uninformed of the magnitude of negative effects of processed foods."
Dr. Ifland goes on to explain how consuming ultra-processed meals on a daily basis may induce inflammation in the body, hormonal imbalances, affect brain function, cause blood circulation problems, and even be connected to cancer.
High consumption of ultra-processed foods has also been linked to a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, adolescent asthma, postmenopausal breast cancer, and gestational diabetes, according to a review of 20 studies published in the Nutrition Journal. It's even been connected to mental health problems including depression.
How can you make a positive habit change in your life?
Dr. Ifland is clear when it comes to modifying your routine and forming better habits: be easy with yourself and don't go cold turkey.
"Promise yourself that you will take it slowly and patiently," Dr. Ifland advises. "It takes months to establish new eating habits. Surprisingly, learning to establish boundaries with those who ask you to join them in consuming processed meals is an important skill."
Dr. Ifland emphasizes that your environment has a significant impact on your food choices. It might be tough to develop healthy habits if you live in an atmosphere where regularly consuming ultra-processed meals is the norm. She suggests identifying "food triggers" in your surroundings and removing them as much as possible.
Dr. Ifland thinks that having processed meals in the home is a significant trigger. "There are a lot of triggers in the media. People who are toxic are also major triggers. Take your time watching and then seek assistance in thinking how to gradually remove triggers from your surroundings."
She also suggests seeking online communities of like-minded individuals to assist, inspire and boost your efforts to take care of your body, such as social media networks. Following good dietitians (like members of our medical expert board) and unfollowing anybody who promotes unhealthy behaviors on social media may make a tremendous impact on your physical and emotional health.
According to Dr. Ifland, "research suggests that slipping off a meal plan is most usually tied to being exposed to a food or stress trigger." "Allow yourself to experiment with the many brain-calming exercises available. This is a talent that takes months, if not years, to develop. Never surrender!"
To get started, Dr. Ifland suggests picking the most effective elimination approach for you. It is possible to eliminate all processed foods at once or to eliminate certain categories of processed foods one at a time. Look for items that include sugar, sweeteners, a lot of salt, processed fats, food additives, or a lengthy list of chemical components you don't recognise.
"The first step is to realize that 'Big Food' causes millions of people to get addicted to a variety of food-like drugs disguised in our food," Dr. Ifland explains. "It might take years to really comprehend what it's like to be given a terrible addiction without our choice, without our knowledge, and with our government's involvement."
You may increase your chances of living a longer, healthier life by replacing ultra-processed items in your diet with nutritious, healthful meals containing good-for-you components.
