- The more that a person’s daily calories come from ultra-processed foods, the more likely they are to experience depression long-term, a new study suggests.
- The association between these foods and depression persisted regardless of sex, body mass index, age, marital status, social living situation, or level of physical activity.
- Australia’s population gets a high percentage of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, but residents of the United States and the United Kingdom residents get even more.
According to a new study from Australia, whose results appear in the Journal of Affective Disorders, people who consume a diet high in ultra-processed foods are more likely to experience depression as much as a decade later.
Implicating diet as a source of depression, one of the world’s most common mental health conditions, suggests that changing one’s diet is potentially a pathway to better mental health, though further research is necessary.
Australia is a country with one of the highest rates of consumption of ultra-processed foods, with residents getting, on average, over 40% of their daily calories from highly processed sources.
Ultra-processed foods are manufactured foods typically containing five or more ingredients. They are optimized for flavor and an extended shelf life rather than for nutrition. As a result, they often contain sweeteners, preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial colors and artificial flavors.
The researchers who conducted the recent study analyzed data from 23,299 individuals between 27 and 76 years of age who participated in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study.
They disqualified people exhibiting psychological distress at the outset of the study and 30 days before based on psychological distress questionnaires.
Participants were followed up for 13 to 17 years, at…
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