The BBC reports on a British study that linked processed foods to depression. The study in the British Journal of Psychiatry compared the diets of 3,500 middle-aged civil servants and found that those eating the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression and those who ate a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression.
They split the participants into two types of diet - those who ate a diet largely based on whole foods, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet, such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products.
After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different diets.
Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole foods.
By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods.
If there is any truth to the study then it is bad news for a lot of people because a lot of people eat processed foods. It is hard to blame them because processsed food tends to be the cheapest, easiest to find and the fastest to prepare. Lifestyle changes are not easy but changing your diet might make you feel better if you reduce processed foods and add in more fruits, vegetables and fish.
