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Aging process is rapid in people who love sedentary life and junk foods than those that exercise regularly and follow healthy lifestyle. The biological process of aging on the other hand reportedly increases the risk of diseases.

According to a new study conducted by a group of researchers at Mayo Clinic, unhealthy food habits and sedentary lifestyle speed up the process of aging in laboratory mice. Exercise showed a positive effect in counteracting the risk of poor dietary habits on a cellular level, according to HNGN.

It is observed in the study that lack of exercise and poor food habits paved way for accelerated onset of cellular senescence, which also resulted in age-related diseases in mice. The investigators also found that exercise prevents premature accumulation of senescent cell that influences the aging process, and there by prevents adverse effects of unhealthy food and age-related diseases, reported Eurekalert.

"We think at both a biological level and a clinical level, poor nutrition choices and inactive lifestyles do accelerate aging," says Dr Nathan LeBrasseur, director of the Center on Aging's Healthy and Independent Living Program and senior author of the study, noted News Medical.

"So now we've shown this in very fine detail at a cellular level, and we can see it clinically. And people need to remember that even though you don't have the diagnosis of diabetes or the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease today when you're in midlife, the biology underlying those processes is hard at work," LeBrasseur added.

Researchers studied three groups of mice that were fed with normal, healthy and fast food diet. The mice that were fed with the junk foods accumulated excess fat in the body, particularly the midsection, associated with the increased risk of diabetes.

When the groups of mice were introduced to exercise, fast food diet fed mice group showed good improvements alongside the two other groups.

Though aging process and age-related diseases are common and inevitable in humans as well, modifiable biological practices like food habits and physical activities have a great role to play in the quality of life as people age, said LeBrasseur.