The Impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on Mental Health: New Study Reveals 30% Increased Risk of Depression

2023-07-03 17:00:00

We already knew that a diet low in raw products and high in ultra-processed foods was detrimental to physiological health: many studies have already shown that junk food increases the risk of cardiovascular disorders and cancers, type 2 diabetes and even of dementia.

A French study has just added a new reason to prefer home-made: it would also harm mental health.

Starting point of the study, led by Tasnime Akbaraly, Inserm researcher at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in Paris: a previous work which had concluded that a Western-type diet, rich in fatty foods and low in fruits and vegetables, was associated with an increased risk of depression.

This time, the researcher wanted to go further to try to determine whether the consumption of chocolate bars, prepared meals or chicken nuggets also had an effect on mental health.

For what ? Because “it has been shown that these products promote oxidative stress and inflammation, and that they modify the intestinal microbiota or even the expression of the genome. It is therefore not excluded that they have an impact on mental health, known to be sensitive to these different factors,” explains Tasnime Akbaraly.

30% additional risk

To validate this hypothesis, the researcher and her team used data from a large study of a British cohort, conducted since 1985 and focusing on the health of several thousand British civil servants aged 35 to 55, mostly men.

The scientists cross-referenced their answers to questions regarding their eating habits between 1991 and 2004, and their possible depressive symptoms, assessed several times between 2002 and 2016.

Conclusion: there would indeed exist a “significant association” between a high consumption of ultra-processed foods and the risk of recurrence of depressive symptoms.

In detail, participants whose diet consisted of at least a third of processed foods had a 30% increased risk of having episodes of recurrent depressive symptoms, compared to those whose share of ultra-processed foods in daily intake was less than one-fifth.

For Tasnime Akbaraly, the results of this study should encourage further exploration of the effect of different food processing processes, additives, emulsifiers and preservatives on mental health.

Pending new work, we can always refer to the conclusions of his previous study, which showed that the adoption of the Mediterranean diet (rich in fruits and vegetables, fish and cereals) was associated with a 33% reduction in the risk of depression. .

Source: Inserm – June 2023

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