A daily diet that contains more than 30 percent of ultra-processed foods is associated with a significant risk of depression, according to a study.
Ultra-processed foods are not limited to typical junk and fast food. They also include mass-produced and highly refined products such as diet soft drinks, some fruit juices and flavored yogurts, margarine, packaged foods such as scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes, and many ready-to-heat and eat foods.
The new findings, recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, provide further evidence of the wide range of harm caused by diets loaded with cheap, well-marketed but often nutritionally poor foods.
23,000 Australians in Depression
Researchers from Deakin University and Cancer Council Victoria examined the links between consumption of ultra-processed foods and depression in more than 23,000 Australians from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study.
“While Australians eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, the association with depression has never before been assessed in a group of Australians,” said Melissa Lane, who completed the research as part of her Ph.D. studies at Deakin University’s Food and Mood Centre.
“Australians who ate the most ultra-processed foods had about a 23 percent higher risk of depression compared to those who ate the least,” Lane said in a statement. The study included people who were not initially taking any medication for depression and anxiety and were followed for more than 15 years.
Even after controlling for factors such as smoking and lower education, income and physical activity, which are associated with poor health outcomes, the findings show that greater consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with a higher risk of depression. Lane said that while the study did not prove that ultra-processed foods necessarily caused depression, it did show that eating more ultra-processed foods was associated with an increased risk of depression.
“Depression is one of the most common mental disorders worldwide and is a major health problem because it negatively affects daily life and well-being through persistent lack of energy, changes in appetite and sleep, loss of interest or pleasure, sadness and sometimes suicidal thoughts,” Lane said.
“Identifying a critical level of consumption that may increase the risk of depression will help consumers, health professionals and policy makers make more informed decisions about dietary choices, interventions and public health strategies,” the researcher added.
Written by: Vaishali verma
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