The foods you eat can affect your health, skin, and biological age (how old your cells are).
“When we talk about aging from a nutrition perspective, we’re really looking at how well the body can repair itself over time,” says Kat Benson, RD, a registered dietitian in El Paso, Texas. “Every day we create some level of stress in the body just by living, and food plays a role in whether we recover well or not.”
That doesn’t mean you need to cut age-accelerating foods completely — the occasional dessert or fried food won’t have a significant impact. “The concern is when those foods are showing up daily and crowding out nutrient-dense options,” Benson says.
To keep your diet aging-friendly, limit (or avoid) these seven foods.
1. Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods like hot dogs, frozen pizza, and instant soups are produced through industrial processes, contain few or no whole foods, and tend to offer less nutritional value than less-processed foods. In addition, they often include added sugars, salt, saturated fat, and artificial ingredients.
Research suggests that ultra-processed foods with high levels of these less-healthy ingredients, along with low levels of fiber and micronutrients, may accelerate aging by triggering an inflammatory response, which can lead to chronic disease.
“When inflammation is turned on all the time, our systems start to break down at an accelerated rate,” says Doug Lucas, DO, the vice president of women’s health, hormone, and lifestyle optimization at LifeMD, a telehealth company in Asheville, North Carolina.
One study of more than 16,000 people ages 20 to 79 found that the more ultra-processed foods a person consumed, the faster their body aged. Those who got 68 to 100 percent of their calories through ultra-processed foods were nearly one biological year older than those who consumed the least.
2. Processed Meats
Processed meats — such as sausage, hot dogs, deli meat, and canned meat — have been linked to shorter telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that shield them from damage.
“Shorter telomeres are considered a marker of biological aging and are linked to a higher risk of age‑related diseases,” Lucas says. Those diseases include heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Processed meats are also high in nitrates (chemicals that prolong shelf-life), salt, and saturated fat, which can contribute to weight gain and may even increase the risk of cancer.
3. Soda and Other Sweets High in Added Sugars
Added sugars are those introduced during food processing, including sweeteners and sugars from syrups, honey, and concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. Natural sugars, on the other hand, are those found naturally in foods like milk, fruits, and vegetables.
Eating a diet high in added sugar — which includes foods like soda, desserts, and sweet snacks — may worsen metabolic health and contribute to an earlier onset of related disease (like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease). One study found that the more added sugar middle-aged women consumed, the more advanced their cellular aging — likely because added sugar promotes inflammation, as well as oxidative stress (an imbalance of antioxidants and free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can cause cellular damage), both of which are linked to cardiometabolic disease and cancer.
Added sugars may also shorten telomeres. One older study of more than 5,000 healthy adults found that drinking sugar-sweetened soda was associated with shorter telomeres, while drinking 100 percent juice was associated with longer ones.
4. Fried Foods and Foods Cooked at High Temperatures
Cooking methods can affect how certain foods influence health. According to one review, cooking at prolonged high temperatures (such as frying) promotes a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction. This reaction, which causes the browning commonly seen when frying foods, contributes to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).
AGEs are compounds formed when proteins or fats bond with sugars. When AGEs accumulate in the body, they can stiffen structural proteins like collagen, contributing to hardened blood vessels and other complications.
Fried foods also cause oxidative stress and release free radicals that can damage cells, the immune system, and increase risk of heart disease and cancer.
“Oxidative stress fuels chronic inflammation, which likely contributes to the functional decline seen with aging,” Lucas says.
Instead of frying, opt for lower-temperature cooking methods, such as baking, steaming, or air‑frying with a little olive oil or avocado oil, suggests Lena Bakovic, RDN, a registered dietitian-nutritionist based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
5. White Bread, Pasta, and Rice
Refined carbohydrates like white bread and pasta cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. Repeated blood sugar spikes can lead to glycation (the process that produces AGEs), which can influence skin aging.
One study that tracked dietary patterns over 20 years found that prioritizing high-quality carbohydrates with fiber — such as whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes — was associated with slower biological aging. Meanwhile, diets high in low-quality carbohydrates — such as white bread, pasta, and rice — had the opposite effect.
Another study of nearly 50,000 women found that refined carbohydrate intake was associated with a lower likelihood of healthy aging.
6. Alcohol
Alcohol damages telomere DNA, and research shows that drinking more than about six glasses of wine per week is associated with shorter telomere length.
One study found that liquor had roughly 2.5 times the age-accelerating effect of beer, possibly because it has the highest alcohol content and the lowest amount of antioxidants called polyphenols.
Alcohol is also linked to premature skin aging. Older research in women ages 18 to 75 finds that those who drank eight or more servings of alcohol per week had more upper facial lines, under-eye puffiness, sagging around the mouth, midface volume loss, and visible blood vessels. This is likely because alcohol weakens the skin’s antioxidant defense system (a network of beneficial molecules that neutralize harmful free radicals) and alters its fat composition.
7. Fast Food, Packaged Snacks, and Other High-Sodium Foods
Many of the most common foods in the American diet are high in sodium, meaning they contain 20 percent or more of the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams (mg).
The worst offenders include canned soups, packaged snacks (such as chips and pretzels), fast food and restaurant meals, frozen or ready‑made dinners, pickles and brined foods, and instant noodles, Bakovic says.
Eating too many of these foods creates inflammation in the blood cells and is associated with age-related issues such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke.
Excess sodium intake also promotes oxidative stress, making the skin more prone to wrinkles, according to an animal study.
A high-sodium diet has also been linked to shorter telomeres. One older study of more than 750 teens found that those with the highest average sodium intake — about 4,400 mg per day — had significantly shorter telomeres than those who ate about 2,400 mg per day. The effect was especially pronounced in teens with overweight and obesity.
The Takeaway
- The foods you eat play a role in how fast your body ages and how old your skin looks.
- Certain foods may accelerate aging by increasing inflammation and oxidative stress or by shortening telomeres.
- Foods linked with accelerated aging include ultra-processed foods, foods that are high in added sugars and sodium, fried foods, alcohol, refined carbohydrates, and processed meat.
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