A link between junk food and depression
A preliminary study from the University of California, San Francisco, suggests a potential link between ultra-processed food consumption and depression. Researchers are calling for larger trials to confirm if dietary changes can effectively reduce symptoms of depression.
Why it matters
This research contributes to the growing body of evidence regarding the gut-brain axis and the impact of nutrition on mental health.
A University of California team in San Francisco, United States, has called for large-scale tests to confirm a connection between a junk food habit and vulnerability to depression after 20 patients reported improved symptoms, such as reduced anxiety, after switching to a healthier diet.
The participants in the preliminary investigation “reduced ultra-processed food intake by more than 85%”, and in turn reported “moderate to large improvements across three measures of depression”, the university stated.
The tests “successfully established the viability of carrying out this research in a larger-scale trial”, said study senior author and Ray and Dagmar Dolby Distinguished Professor in Psychiatry and Neurology Dr Andrew Krystal.
Published in JAMA Psychiatry , an American Medical Association journal, the paper was described by the university as possibly “the first to compare symptoms in people with depression before and after they switched from their regular ultra-processed diet to healthier food”.
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