The following is from BBC News site: Depression link to processed food
After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different diets.
Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole foods.
By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods.
Not really surprising (to me, anyway) but interesting to see some research on this. And the difference is quite significant.
Is it really a linear progression from one to the other, are they really not hand in hand?
You don’t look after yourself when you are depressed, so you don’t eat well… down you go.
What about access to raw foods?
The study doesn’t show causality, it shows correlation.
People eating whole foods may be more aware of their bodies’ needs. People may be eating more processed foods because they’re depressed, and the quick sugar hit makes them feel better. Since processed food tends to be cheaper, the whole foods folks might just be spending less money on other stuff and hence have fewer worries.
I agree that eating processed food is a terrible idea, but this study doesn’t tell us anything about cause.
Maybe it’s just correlation. But maybe that’s enough.
I actually prefer to think that it’s correlation and not causation: so there’s no magic ‘eat me to get better’ cereal or ‘wellness’ bran that fixes everything without your involvement. I see the causing factor being you caring about yourself, and therefore deciding what you eat, what you do, and what your reactions are. Sure, there may also be things in the food that are good for you – vitamins, proteins, trace elements, etc – but to me that shouldn’t stop us wanting to be responsible for how our bodies are and what we put in them.
Have fun,
Paul