It’s almost hard to find real food nowadays. Not only is most of our food found in plastic containers, leaching microplastics into our food and into our bodies, but also everything is super overly processed. I feel like I’m a pretty mindful eater, and I can’t name a single day where have gone being able to eat only whole, organic, non packaged food. According to the British Heart Foundation ultra-processed foods are processed multiple times in order to enhance shelf life, boost their market appeal, as well as enhanced taste (Grosser, 2025).
What is an ultra-processed food?
An ultra processed food needs to go through multiple layers of manufacturing before it gets placed on the shelves of your local grocery market. These are items like sugary cereals, processed meats, carbonated drinks, and any packaged product with a long list of artificial additives that you can’t pronounce.
Yes, they are convenient, but the cost of eating these foods have a long term effect on our health, longevity and life span. They are usually devoid of nutrients that our body so desperately needs. Over time, this leads to feelings of lethargy and disrupting internal organs like your GI tract, setting you up for cancers and other illnesses.
Here are 5 ways ultra-processed foods make you age quicker.
- Nutrient Poor and Calorie Dense Diets Heighten Oxidative Stress.
You’ve probably heard about the joys of antioxidants since you were little. Antioxidants are promoted for their anti-aging effects, most notably found in fruits and veggies. These are molecules that protect cells from damage caused by free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage DNA, proteins, and lipids (BSc, 2023).
- Nutrient Poor and Calorie Dense Diets Heighten Inflammation.
Localized inflammation is how our bodies heal when the tissue is damaged. If you fall down and bump your knee, inflammation will happen in order to rush healer cells to the site and start the healing process. The cells involved in this type of inflammation attack foreign invaders, create antibodies, and remove dead cells to get the body working at its best again.
Inflammation takes a turn for the worse when it is chronic or body wide. This type of inflammation happens when you eat too high of a diet in ultra processed foods! Think of it as an S.O.S. sign from your body, trying to tell you it is missing vital nutrients that are important for its functionality. Though inflammation is accompanied with most modern illnesses comma it is not the root cause of them.
- Nutrient Poor and Calorie Dense Diets Damage Gut Microbiome
Artificial sweeteners and preservatives disrupt healthy gut bacteria, weakening immunity and aging you from the inside out. With a lack of healthy gut bacteria, your digestion will be slower, allowing your waste to sit longer in your digestive system, which is linked to intestinal and colon cancer.
You can counter this by eating high fiber fruits and vegetables, and drinking enough water per day! My recommendation would be 3/4 to 1 gallon per day for maximum effect.
- Nutrient Poor and Calorie Dense Diets Cause Sugar Spikes and Insulin Resistance
Frequent sugar crashes lead to insulin resistance. This damages the blood vessels and skin elasticity.
You can counter this bye leaving more whole grain foods that slow release into your bloodstream such as oatmeal, brown rice, and lean protein such as chicken or turkey.
- Nutrient Poor and Calorie Dense Diets Cause Mitochondrial Damage
Many ultra processed foods are fried or contained processed oils that generate free radicals in your body. These free radicals, when built up to excess, overwhelm your antioxidant defenses, damaging mitochondria and accelerating cellular aging. Mitochondria is super important! Though we all remember from grade school that they are the powerhouse of the cell, what this means is that they are in charge of creating ATP, the energy source for every single one of your cells in your body. As we age, each cell creates less and less mitochondria, resulting in lower energy. This is why your 6 year old can be bouncing off the walls after never having touched a cup of coffee, but you will be needing an afternoon nap by 2pm. Since our body is making less mitochondria as we age starting at the age of 30, it is super important to take care of the mitochondria we have left!
You can counter these free radicals by increasing your intake of antioxidant foods. There is also a compound found in pomegranates and cherries called Urolithin-A, which will help boost those mitochondrial functions, decrease inflammation and leave you feeling more energized, naturally.
What Should I Eat Instead?
Try to eat foods that are as close to their natural state as possible – you know, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, etc.
To get the most nutrients in your diet, try eating the rainbow, meaning eat different colors of foods throughout the day.
Make sure to eat foods that have urolithin a to help your mitochondria function properly, especially if you are over 30 years old.
Drink 3/4 to 1 gallon of water every day for maximum functioning of your digestive system, and maximum hydration of your skin.
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References
BSc, A. A., PhD. (2023, July 12). Antioxidants explained in simple terms. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/antioxidants-explained
Grosser, K. (2025, May 1). Can ultra processed food make you age quicker? Kent Cardio. https://kentcardio.com/can-ultra-processed-food-make-you-age-quicker/
