Does fast food trigger depression?

Does fast food trigger depression? / Health News

Study found a link between an unhealthy diet and the onset of depression

10/04/2012

A joint study by researchers from the Universities of Las Palmas, Granada and Navarra found a link between the onset of depression and the over-consumption of fast food products. „Those who eat a lot of fast foods increase the risk of depression by up to 50 percent“, the summary of the research consortium in the journal "Public Health Nutrition Journal.

In contrast to the predominantly healthy diet, the risk of depression is increased by up to 50 percent. Thus, there is a context between the diet and the occurrence of depressive disorders. The researchers arrived at this result on the basis of a study with around 9,000 subjects.

Observational study showed unhealthy diet
At the beginning of the study, participants had no mental or physical ailments. In addition, they did not take any medicines, such as antidepressants or psychotropic drugs. In a time frame of six months, the study participants of different ages and sex were examined recurrently. The researchers focused on diet, health and lifestyle. During the study period, 493 people fell ill with manifest depression. For the patients, the data already obtained were compared with those who did not suffer from a depressive episode. "By comparison, those diagnosed with depression consumed significantly more fast food or industrial baked goods than the rest," study author Almudena Sanchez-Villegas said. In particular, the consumption of fruit, vegetables and fish of the mentally ill was avoided by a majority.

More detailed studies must explain context
Whether a causal relationship actually exists, write the study authors, must still „be examined more closely“. However, there are studies that suggest that forms of diet such as the Mediterranean diet, vegetarian diet, foods containing vitamin B and omega-3 fatty acids and olive oil have a special protective mechanism. However, an unhealthy diet alone can not trigger depression, the researchers said.

The psychiatrist Manfred Wolfersdorf from the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology studies the results of the study a bit more differentiated. In his opinion, fast food does not trigger depression. „But lifestyle, which includes nutrition, can be a factor in the disease, "Dr. Wolfersdorf said, adding that some experts believe that the disease itself promotes unhealthy diets, and depressives are less concerned about how to prepare and select them daily food and therefore also eat unhealthy. (sb)

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