Association Between Ultraprocessed Foods Consumption and Leucocyte Telomere Length: A Cross-Sectional Study of UK Biobank

Chunhao Li; Yuchun Zhang; Ke Zhang; Hongna Fu; Luyang Lin; Guoyi Cai; Xiaojun Zhang; Xingfen Yang; Zheqing Zhang; Zhen Yang; Bo Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.05.001

Association Between Ultraprocessed Foods Consumption and Leucocyte Telomere Length: A Cross-Sectional Study of UK Biobank

J Nutr. 2024 May 11:S0022-3166(24)00273-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.05.001. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chunhao Li¹, Yuchun Zhang¹, Ke Zhang¹, Hongna Fu², Luyang Lin², Guoyi Cai², Xiaojun Zhang¹, Xingfen Yang¹, Zheqing Zhang³, Zhen Yang⁴, Bo Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Food Safety and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
² Division of Emergency Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; NHC Key Laboratory on Assisted Circulation (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
⁴ Division of Emergency Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; NHC Key Laboratory on Assisted Circulation (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: yangzh8@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
⁵ Food Safety and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: zhangbo2018@smu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38735573
DOI: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.05.001

Abstract

Background: □ OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the association between consumption of ultraprocessed foods and leucocyte telomere length (LTL).

Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized data from the UK Biobank, including a total of 64,690 participants. LTL was measured using qPCR with natural logarithmic conversion and z-score normalization. Dietary data were collected through a 24-h recall questionnaire from 2009 to 2010. Ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) were identified using the NOVA food classification as either a continuous or a categorical variable. Multiple linear regression models were employed to analyze the association between UPF consumption and LTL.

Results: The included participants had an average age of 56.26 y, of whom 55.2% were female. After adjusting for demographic and health-related variables, LTL exhibited a decrease of 0.005 (95% CI: -0.007, -0.002) with 1 UPF serving increase. Compared with participants consuming ≤3.5 servings/d, those consuming 3.5 to <6 servings showed a shortening of LTL by 0.025 (95% CI: -0.046, -0.003). Participants consuming 6 to ≤8 servings/d and >8 servings/d had LTL shortening of 0.032 (95% CI: -0.054, -0.011) and 0.037 (95% CI: -0.060, -0.014), respectively (P for trend = 0.002). Subgroup analyses by UPF subclasses revealed that the consumption of ready-to-eat/heated food (β: -0.010; 95% CI: -0.016, -0.004), beans and potatoes (β: -0.027; 95% CI: -0.043, -0.012), animal-based products (β: -0.012; 95% CI: -0.020, -0.005), artificial sugar (β: -0.014; 95% CI:-0.025,-0.003), and beverages (β: -0.005; 95% CI: -0.009, -0.001) showed negative associations with LTL. Conversely, breakfast cereals (β: 0.022; 95% CI: 0.006, 0.038) and vegetarian alternatives (β: 0.056; 95% CI:0.026,0.085) showed positive correlations with LTL.

Conclusions: Our study found that a higher consumption of total UPF was associated with a shorter LTL. However, some UPFs may be associated with longer LTL, depending on their nutritional composition.

Keywords: NOVA; UK Biobank; cross-sectional study; leucocyte telomere length; ultraprocessed foods.