Throughout my four years in high school, I have had two teachers comment about how they previously had to overcome negative experiences in their lives. Just like many people, they had hit a rough patch and were depressed. However, they followed up that discussion by mentioning that one thing that helped improve their mental health was eating healthier. It is common knowledge that junk food is considerably bad for your physical health if eaten on a consistent basis. It can increase your risk of obtaining diabetes or heart disease, among other ailments. However, I was curious and wanted to know, is there also a connection between eating unhealthy and poor mental health?

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that was conducted by James E. Gangwisch, an assistant professor at Columbia University in psychiatry, seeked to answer that question. His main focus was on the glycemic index, a ranking system between foods that have carbohydrates and the amount that they increase your blood sugar. He wanted to see if there was a link between the glycemic index and depression. One tactic his team employed was studying information gained from food questionnaires of about 70,000 women. In addition, they also obtained a scale from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study that scales the symptoms for depressive disorders in postmenopausal women. At the early stages of the experiment, none of the women had depression. Baseline measurements were taken over the course of several years. The team found that when the foods that the women ate centered around those that scaled higher on the glycemic index, more specifically foods with refined grains and added sugars, the risk of depression was increased. However, when the food they consumed was focused mostly on healthier options like whole fruits and vegetables, they had less chances of obtaining depression. 

The underlying reasons for such connections were unknown; it was just obvious there was a connection. Gangwisch also acknowledges that his research only focused on postmenopausal women, so he is unsure whether or not there is also a connection for men and younger women. He comments that even more research is required. In contrast, there are other studies that say that they confirmed that unhealthy food is connected with depression. One study comes from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada. Their work was published in the Public Health Nutrition journal and belonged to the SUN Project (University of Navarra Diet and Lifestyle Tracking Program). Their conclusion was that those who ate fast food were fifty-one percent more likely to become depressed when set against those who barely ate fast food. 

Their experiment ran for six months and had 8,964 participants who, similar to the previous experiment, did not have depression at the start of the study. In the end, 493 of the participants developed depression. This agrees with the outcome of the SUN project that took place in 2011. In the 2011 experiment, 12,059 people were studied but over the course of more than six months. However, the result was that there was only a forty-two percent increased chance. Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, lead author of the study of the experiment that ran for six months, also says that further research is needed. However, like Gangwisch, Sánchez-Villegas also believes that the connection between poor diets and mental health is critical.

There are many more researchers that have come to these conclusions. While there may be some unknowns in the experiment as the researchers acknowledge, the main takeaway is that there is an supposedly evident link between those that consume fast food and those with poor mental health. However, this is not to say that eating healthy is always the cure to depression nor is it to say junk food always leads to depression. It may be the solution for some people, it may only help others a little, while it may not help at all. Either way, it never hurts to try a new, healthier diet. In the end, it can also improve your physical health. Therefore, many of these researchers encourage a better, healthier diet.

References:

http://time.com/3939974/sugar-junk-food-depression/ 

https://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/junk-food-making-you-depressed 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120330081352.htm