Is your diet making you older than you are? New study reveals how everyday foods are speeding up ageing

If your reflection has been looking a bit older than your years lately, the culprit might not be stress or sleep, but your snack drawer. A new study by Monash University in Australia has uncovered a sobering truth: our love affair with ultra-processed foods (UPFs) could be pushing our biological age far beyond our actual one.

While your birthday marks your chronological age, your biological age tells the real story—how quickly your body is physically ageing on the inside. And that story, experts warn, is being written in the supermarket aisles.

Chips, Cakes, and a Clock That Ticks Faster
Common favourites like crisps, cakes, chicken nuggets, and ready-to-eat meals aren’t just empty calories—they’re ageing accelerators. According to Monash University’s findings, every 10% increase in UPF consumption adds 2.4 months to your biological age. That’s the equivalent of an extra couple of biscuits in your daily diet pushing your body nearly a quarter-year closer to the mirror’s worst nightmare.

Gemma Clare, a functional nutritionist and integrative skin expert, told the New York Post, “It causes cells to age throughout your body, and this affects the cells of your skin… signs of accelerated ageing are much more obvious on your skin and body.”

The Wrinkle Connection: Inflammation from Within
UPFs, often overloaded with sugar, salt, seed oils, and additives, are known to trigger chronic inflammation—an internal response that silently wreaks havoc across organs. But the effects are visibly etched onto the skin. Think sagging, dullness, puffiness, and premature lines.

Processed seed oils, such as sunflower or soybean oil, which are omnipresent in packaged snacks, tip the omega balance in the body and heighten inflammation. Combine that with sodium-loaded snacks and fizzy drinks, and you’ve got a recipe for early ageing.

“Sugar Sag” and Other Real Consequences
One term that’s catching attention is “sugar sag”—a condition where sugar binds with collagen and elastin, two proteins that keep skin plump and youthful. The result? Droopy, tired-looking skin.

“Eating too many sugary foods can lead to ‘ sugar sag’… resulting in a loss of skin elasticity,” Clare explained. And it doesn’t take much. Even sauces, cereals, and fruit yoghurts can be sugar bombs in disguise.

Unexpected Ageing Allies
Even burnt toast isn’t safe. Charred food generates free radicals, unstable molecules that attack skin cells and cause oxidative stress—a major contributor to wrinkles and skin laxity. Alcohol, too, accelerates telomere shortening, which scientists use to measure biological ageing and disease risk.

A UK study involving 245,000 people found that alcohol consumption directly correlates with shortened telomeres—genetic bookends that protect chromosomes. The shorter the telomeres, the faster your cells deteriorate.

Eat to Reverse the Clock
The good news? It’s not too late to stop the spiral. Experts suggest adopting an anti-inflammatory diet rich in whole foods—think colourful vegetables, berries, leafy greens, oily fish, legumes, seeds, and nuts. These natural powerhouses are filled with antioxidants that neutralise damaging free radicals and slow ageing from the inside out.

Nutritionist Eve Kalinik reminds us, “If you aim to eat well 80% of the time, get enough sleep, exercise, and manage stress, all of these factors will help you maintain better health.”

In a world that tempts you at every corner with crispy, sugary, and sodium-laden indulgences, the path to ageing gracefully may just lie in your kitchen. So next time you reach for that packet of chips, remember—your skin and your cells are paying the price.