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Junk Food Linked to Depression
Fatty, refined foods jack risk by 58%
By Kate Schwartz
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Posted Nov 2, 09 9:53 AM CST
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(Newser)
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Feeling blue? Put down the cookies: Eating a diet rich (or, should we say, poor) in processed foods increases the risk of depression, a study finds. British scientists studied 3,500 adults over five years; those who ate mainly fried, processed, refined, high-fat foods had a 58% greater risk of depression than those who ate the least. And those who consumed mostly whole foods, produce, and fish showed a 26% lower risk than those who consumed the least of those foods, reports the BBC.
Researchers admitted they can't rule out the possibility that depressed people simply eat more junk food, but the subjects in the study had no previous diagnosis of depression. And they don't know why the link might exist, though they hypothesize that depression might be linked to inflammation, as it is with heart disease.