Are you feeling down in the dumps about all that junk food you’ve been eating lately? Well, it may literally be the junk food that is making you depressed.
The results of a six-year study out of Spain has come to the conclusion that people who eat food high in trans fats and saturated fats have an increased risk of depression. Trans fats are used in fried foods, shortening and all kinds of processed foods.
“Participants with an elevated consumption of trans fats presented up to a 48 percent increase in the risk of depression when they were compared to participants who did not consume these fats,” said Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Over the six years of the study, researchers analyzed the diet and lifestyle of over 12,000 people. At the start of the study, nobody in the study was diagnosed with depression. However, by the end of the study, more than 600 people were suffering from the condition.
The opposite effect was found with foods such as fish, vegetable oils and olive oil. Those foods are associated with a lower risk of depression.
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 15 million Americans suffer from depression.
(via: Fox News)