PhD Defence Simona Esposito

Keywords: Nutrition, Biological age, processing, diet quality
 

"Diet and Biological Aging: A Thorough Analysis in the Moli-san I Study Cohort"

This thesis started from two main research questions. Firstly, it aimed to deepen the relationship between diet quality and biological aging, by analysing dietary scores that reflect dietary patterns characterized by optimal nutritional profiles, such as the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, as well as pro-inflammatory diets. Secondly, this thesis examined the relationship between ultra-processed foods consumption and biological aging, based on the rationale that the nutrient balance of a food is only a small part of its overall health potential, which is possibly the result of non-nutritional factors, such as the degree of food processing. The findings reported here indicate that both a traditional Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet are associated with delayed biological aging, possibly through the high polyphenol content of foods that characterize both dietary patterns. On the contrary, a diet rich in pro-inflammatory foods is positively associated with an accelerated biological aging. 

Possibly for the first time, this thesis provided evidence that a large dietary share of ultra-processed foods is associated with blood-based biological aging, irrespective of the poor nutritional content of these foods. Overall, the findings of this thesis support the beneficial influence of healthful nutritious diets, such as the Mediterranean Diet, in healthy aging, also highlighting the contribution of polyphenols.  Most importantly, the data discussed here prompts us to modify our perspective on diet and aging, shedding a light on the degree of food processing consumed for slowing down aging trajectories. 

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