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Depression link to processed food

2011-01-26 07:12:06

Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research

suggests.

What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had

a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found.

Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with

depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported.

The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression.

The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more

saturated fats and sugars

Dr Andrew McCulloch, Mental Health Foundation

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.

Mediterranean diet

Although the researchers cannot totally rule out the possibility that people

with depression may eat a less healthy diet they believe it is unlikely to be

the reason for the findings because there was no association with diet and

previous diagnosis of depression.

Study author Dr Archana Singh-Manoux pointed out there is a chance the finding

could be explained by a lifestyle factor they had not accounted for.

"There was a paper showing a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower

risk of depression but the problem with that is if you live in Britain the

likelihood of you eating a Mediterranean diet is not very high.

"So we wanted to look at bit differently at the link between diet and mental

health."

It is not yet clear why some foods may protect against or increase the risk of

depression but scientists think there may be a link with inflammation as with

conditions such as heart disease.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said:

"This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong

links between what we eat and our mental health.

"Major studies like this are crucial because they hold the key to us better

understanding mental illness."

He added people's diets were becoming increasingly unhealthy.

"The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more

saturated fats and sugars.

"We are particularly concerned about those who cannot access fresh produce

easily or live in areas where there are a high number of fast food restaurants

and takeaways."

Margaret Edwards, head of strategy at the mental health charity SANE, said:

"Physical and mental health are closely related, so we should not be too

surprised by these results, but we hope there will be further research which

may help us to understand more fully the relationship between diet and mental

health."