New research indicates that eating ultra-processed foods is linked to the accelerated shortening of telomeres and cell aging.The researchers, from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, presented their findings at this year’s European and International Congress on Obesity (ECOICO 2020) in September.The findings also feature in a study paper in The Americal Journal of Clinical Nutrition.Lucia Alonso-Pedrero, who is a doctoral researcher at this university, led the study.The consumption of ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, is on the rise worldwide.
UPFs are manufactured food products comprising the building blocks of naturally occurring foods: protein isolates, sugars, fats, and oils.However, while their components are often extracted.