Fast food not only makes you fat, it also contributes to depression

Natural News

J. D. Heyes

(NaturalNews) You already know that the McLarge burger you’re stuffing in your face isn’t healthy for you. What you may not know, however, is that all that fast food is doing more than just expanding your waistline – it could be giving you a serious case of depression as well.

A study of some 8,964 people found that eating junk and fast food has a negative effect on mental health.

Some of our American favorites – burgers, pizza, hot dogs – are on the list of fast or non-nutritional foods that contribute to a darker mood. In fact, the study found that people who eat those foods often were 51 percent more likely to become depressed, as evidenced by http://www.webmd.com, among other signs and symptoms.

Even small quantities are bad for you

The study also found that those most likely to over-indulge in such unhealthy fare were single, less physically active, smokers and those who worked more than 45 hours per week.

Researchers, whose data have been published in the Journal of Public Health Nutrition, found that of the nearly 9,000 people studied over a six-month period, 493 were diagnosed with clinical depression or otherwise began taking anti-depressants. People with extremely high or low daily caloric intake, or had obesity-related diseases, were excluded from the study.

Dr. Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, lead researcher from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Grenada, said data found that commercially baked foods produce similarly depressive effects.

“Even eating small quantities is linked to a significantly higher chance of developing depression,” she said. “Although more studies are necessary, the intake of this type of food should be controlled because of its implications on both health (obesity, cardiovascular diseases) and mental well-being.”

Sanchez-Villegas noted that her findings were similar to earlier studies that found a correlation between higher intake of fast food and depression.

Her research supports the results of the SUN project in 2011, which were published in the PloS Onejournal. That six-month study of 12,059 people found 657 new cases of depression; in all, the study recorded a 42 percent increase in the risk of depression associated with fast food.

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