Researchers have analyzed data from 11 prior studies which focused on the correlation between depression and pro-inflammatory diets. These studies encompassed over 100,000 participants of various ages between 16 -and 72-years-old. Gender and ethnicity varied as well, and so did location, as the individuals spanned across the United States, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, reports Medical Xpress. The results showed that diets rich in fast food, junk food, and other processed foods did, in fact, raise one's risk of developing depression.
These researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University recorded the presence of depression as well as the beginning depressive symptoms in all participants. The research was done through self-observation, medical diagnoses, and the presence of antidepressant use. The people involved in the study were given an assigned score or exactly how inflammatory his or her diet was according to dietary indexes, cites Medical Xpress.
Dr. Steven Bradburn from the Bioscience Research Center at Manchester Metropolitan's School of Healthcare Science has made his remarks about the results of this study on depression and junk food consumption.
"These results have tremendous clinical potential for the treatment of depression, and if it holds true, other diseases such as Alzheimer's which also have an underlying inflammatory component. Simply changing what we eat may be a cheaper alternative to pharmacological interventions, which often come with side-effects. This work builds on recent advances in the field by others, including the first ever clinical trial into dietary interventions for treating depression, which have shown beneficial improvements in depressive symptoms. It should be stressed, however, that our findings are an association, rather than causality. Further work is needed to confirm the efficacy of modulating dietary patterns in treating depression with relation to inflammation."
