Fast food has long been linked to health concerns, but it is easier to shrug off warnings when they feel vague. A newer way of talking about ultra processed foods tries to make the impact more tangible by translating everyday choices into minutes of healthy life gained or lost. When you see a number next to something you eat without thinking, the habit can suddenly feel more real. That is the idea behind a set of estimates that has been making the rounds online.
Nutritionist Luis Zamora recently discussed the concept on the show Y ahora Sonsoles, sharing a figure that tends to stop people mid scroll. According to him, a single cheeseburger can reduce your life expectancy by about nine minutes. The claim was highlighted by Unilad, and Zamora tied it to research associated with the University of Michigan. On paper, nine minutes sounds small, which is exactly why the framing is so striking.
Zamora also cited other examples that put the cheeseburger number into perspective. He said the average hot dog could cost around 36 minutes, while soft drinks can take about 12 minutes, even the ones marketed as sugar free. He added that bacon and other processed red meats may subtract up to six minutes per serving. The point is not that one lunch “dooms” anyone, but that repeated choices stack up when they become routine.
That accumulation matters because ultra processed foods are not occasional treats for many adults. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that between 2021 and 2023, about 53 percent of adults’ daily calories came from these kinds of foods. In other words, the “sometimes” category can quietly become the default. When your baseline includes a lot of packaged, heavily processed options, the minute-by-minute math starts to feel less abstract.
The estimates Zamora referenced come from work by researchers Katerina Stylianou and Olivier Jolliet, who developed a tool known as the Health Nutritional Index. It is designed to show how a single portion of a food might be associated with minutes of healthy life lost or gained. Not everything on the list is bad news either. Their analysis suggested that some foods can move the needle in the other direction, such as nuts and seeds, with a 30 gram serving linked to a gain of up to 25 minutes of healthy life.
If you have thoughts on whether this “minutes” approach would actually change your choices, or if it feels like a gimmick, share your take in the comments.
