Junk Food Consumption And Depression Essay

In past decades, the food available to people tended to be fresh foods that were grown locally. During these times, people were consuming nutrient dense fruits and vegetables as well as protein from meats that weren’t highly processed or altered with hormones, preservatives, and other additives. In modern day, we tend to eat the most convenient, instantly satisfying foods. The majority of the foods we consume are highly processed, simple carbohydrates, such as sugar. Simple carbohydrates are a very quick source of energy and are rapidly digested. They also ignite the reward system. From the groceries we buy to the food that is served in many restaurants, these highly processed foods are all around us. These foods that lack vital nutrients not

Many people may not realize that out of our many modern diseases, one of the biggest struggles in society is depression. What we eat may actually be contributing to this mental health issue. The article refers to a study conducted by James E. Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University that looked at data from food questionnaires and a scale that measures symptoms of depressive disorders from postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. What was found and discussed in the article was that diets higher on the glycemic index, including those rich in refined grains and added sugar, where associated with greater odds of depression, but some aspect of diet had protective effects against developing depression, including fiber, whole grains, whole fruits, vegetable, and lactose, a sugar that comes from dairy products and milk that sits low on the glycemic index. Added sugar, but not total sugar or total carbohydrates, were strongly associated with depression (M. Oaklander, 2015). The article also discusses the possibility that the overconsumption of sugars and refined starches is a risk factor for inflammation and cardiovascular disease. The authors noted that one possibility is that the overconsumption of sugars and refined starches is a risk factor for inflammation and cardiovascular disease, both of which have been linked

Depression has been supposed to be associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, including poor diet. The objective of this study was to investigate the differences in diet quality between patients with a clinical diagnosis of depression and population-based controls. Additionally, researchers aimed to examine effects of specific depression characteristics on diet by analyzing if diet quality varies between patients with distinct depression subtypes, and if depression severity is associated with diet quality. The method researchers used included 1660 participants from the BiDirect Study, with 840 patients with depression and 820 population controls. The psychiatric assessment was based on clinical interviews and a combination of depression scales in order to supply the classification of depression subtypes and severity. Diet quality scores, which reflected the adherence to a healthy dietary pattern were calculated on the basis of an 18-item food frequency questionnaire. Using analysis of covariance, researchers calculated adjusted means of diet quality scores and tested differences between groups, which were adjusted for socio-demographic, lifestyle, and health-related factors. In this study, no difference was found in diet quality between controls and patients with depression if depression was a single entity.