A link between ultra-processed foods and increased risk of depression?

The consumption of ultra-processed foods appears to increase the risk of depression, warns a large international study involving hundreds of Quebecers.The association was particularly notable among young adults aged 18 to 34.The association with depression persisted and even appeared to be accentuated among women aged 35 and older. However, among adults aged 35 and older, and particularly among women, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish was associated with a lower risk of depression.“Our results clearly show that common variables such as obesity, smoking, and being unemployed or inactive are associated with the presence of higher levels of depressive symptoms" said the head of the Quebec component of tHE study, Dr. Sylvain Iceta, a psychiatrist and researcher at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute Research Centre.“But we’ve also shown that diet itself is associated with a higher risk. And among the different foods we studied, ultra-processed foods, junk food, and also highly prepared meals are associated with a higher risk in women.”The international ALIMENTAL study was coordinated by a French physician, Dr. Guillaume Fond. It was conducted online between 2021 and 2023 and involved more than 15,000 participants across nine countries, including 500 in Quebec.More than a third of the approximately 15,000 participants who did not have a chronic illness or were not currently taking psychotropic medication were nevertheless classified in the group with depression.“The idea was really to focus on a general population, on ordinary people, to see what might be happening, specifically, in the links between diet and depression,” explained Dr. Iceta.The results highlight the importance of a personalized approach in public health. Depending on age and gender, the press release noted, “individuals probably do not have the same level of risk or the same sensitivity to diet.”By identifying the most at-risk groups, this study can help develop more tailored prevention programs, they add.The study data don’t allow us to definitively determine why the risk of depression seems to increase over time, but there’s probably some logic behind it, Dr. Iceta said.“It seems like there’s a cumulative risk,” he explained. “As if, over the years, this accumulation of unhealthy foods could increase the risk.”The study authors also found that nutritional knowledge was associated with a reduced risk of depression—in other words, that people who had better nutritional knowledge were less likely to experience depressive symptoms.All of this is interesting, Dr. Iceta said, because it “could offer interesting avenues for intervention in the general population, to better inform people about these foods and to better educate the population from a nutritional perspective.”“I think the link between diet and mental health is too often overlooked,” the researcher concluded. “It’s too simple to say that people are depressed because they’re obese, or that they’re obese because they’re depressed. We really need to look more closely at what’s going on. And then we see that dietary quality ultimately matters significantly when we talk about mental health.”This article has been translated from its original French.

A link between ultra-processed foods and increased risk of depression?

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