Antioxidants in whole veggies & lower risk of depression

November 3, 2009

Processed food link to depression: research

Mon Nov 2, 10:41 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – A diet heavy in processed and fatty foods increases the risk of

depression, according to British research published on Monday.

Researchers at University College London also found that a diet including plenty

of fresh vegetables, fruit and fish could help prevent the onset of depression.

They compared participants -- all civil servants -- who ate a diet largely based

on " whole " foods with a second group who mainly ate fried food, processed meat,

high-fat dairy products and sweetened desserts.

Taking into account other indicators of a healthy lifestyle such as not smoking

and taking physical exercise, those who ate the whole foods had a 26 percent

lower risk of depression than those who ate mainly processed foods.

People with a diet heavy in processed food had a 58 percent higher risk of

depression.

The researchers put forward several explanations for the findings, which are

published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Firstly, the high level of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables could have a

protective effect, as previous studies have shown higher antioxidant levels to

be associated with a lower risk of depression.

Secondly, eating lots of fish may protect against depression because it contains

high levels of the sort of polyunsaturated fatty acids which stimulate brain

activity.

And they said it was possible that a " whole food " diet protects against

depression because of the combined effect of consuming nutrients from lots of

different types of food, rather than the effect of one single nutrient.

The researchers concluded: " Our research suggests that healthy eating policies

will generate additional benefits to health and well-being, and that improving

people's diet should be considered as a potential target for preventing

depressive disorders. "

The study was carried out on 3,486 people with an average age of 55, who worked

for the civil service in London.

Each participant completed a questionnaire about their eating habits, and a

self-assessment for depression.

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