Fast Food and the Blues--Is There a Connection?

Fast food is quick and easy, but it may be ruining your mood, causing depression and anxiety. Recent preliminary studies on diet and depression reveal what clinicians have long suspected:  People who regularly eat fast food diets are more prone to various forms of mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety, than those who eat a regular diet consisting of healthy whole foods including fresh vegetables and fruit, lean meats, fish with high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids like salmon and tuna, and whole grains.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to registered dietitian Katherine Zeratsky with the Mayo Clinic, "Some preliminary research suggests that having a poor diet can make you more vulnerable to depression."

One such preliminary study recently performed at the University College London, and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry involved two (2) groups of participants. One group ate mainly unprocessed, low fat whole foods; the second group ate primarily fast food, also known as processed food, including sweets, processed meats, refined grains, fried foods and high-fat dairy products. The widely reported results were impressive, but not surprising, to some consumers of health care, as well as, medical and mental health professionals, around the world who have long suspected the Diet-Depression Connection.

According to one BBC report on this study, "those who ate the most healthy whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression" than those participants who ate more of the processed foods in the study.

In another controlled preliminary study out of the University of Melbourne in Australia involving 1046 women between the ages of 20-93, it was found that those in the study who consumed a healthier, "Traditional Diet," were 30% less likely to have major depression, dysthymia, or anxiety disorders, than those who consumed a Western, fast food-processed type diet. This study was limited as it exclusively studied women, and did not have data to bridge the gender gap.

Lifestyle Variables

Though diet is vitally important when looking at the incidence of depression, other factors must also be taken into account such as medical history, family history, medications taken, age, gender, socio-economic background, culture, weight, activity level and even childhood factors may all have an effect on the development of depression. Additional variables include the consumption of red meat, which was not included in the final report for this study.

Clearly, there are some compelling reasons to believe that there is a connection between diet and depression. For over a decade, the role of diet has been studied for its effects on medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, cancer and gastrointestinal disorders. 

Though these preliminary studies of diet's effect on mental health are groundbreaking, more controlled medical research must be done to clarify various contributing factors that affect the Diet-Depression Connection.

In the meantime, it may be helpful to consider choosing whole foods like fresh fruit and vegetables whenever possible. Your mood may depend on it.

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Adele M. Gill   Copyright 2012 Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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