Depression and Processed Food Linked
Recent research by a team from the University College, London has found a link between eating a lot of processed food and depression. The research also found that those people who ate a diet high in fruit, vegetables and fish had lower rates of depression.
The team compared the diet and depression instances after five years of 3,500 civil servants in the first study of its kind in the UK. The group was divided into two. One group that ate a diet consisting of mainly whole foods including plenty of fruit, fish and vegetables and a second group who ate mainly processed foods including processed meats, refined grains and dairy products.
The study found that after taking into account factors such as the age of the participants and their level of physical activity plus a range of other factors there was a strong correlation between diet and the incidence of depression. In general the group with the healthier diet had a 20% lower chance of developing depression.
At the moment no one is sure why eating processed foods leads to depression. In the UK the diet is becoming increasingly unhealthy with many people eating more sugar and saturated fats so this is an important study as it links an unhealthy diet with mental health.
Read more at Depression link to processed food