The new finding shows that a daily diet that contains more than 30 percent ultra-processed food is connected with an increased risk of depression.

Ultra-processed foods include more than just junk food and fast meals. They also include mass-produced and highly refined products such as diet soft drinks, some fruit juices, flavored yogurts, margarine, packet preparations of foods like scrambled egg and mashed potato, and many ready-to-heat-and-eat dishes.

The latest study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders adds to the growing body of research pointing to the wide-ranging dangers of diets high in inexpensive, well-marketed but often nutrient-deficient convenience food.

Deakin University and Cancer Council Victoria researchers examined the links between ultra-processed food consumption and depression in over 23,000 Australians from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study.

Melissa Lane conducted the study as part of her Ph.D. studies at Deakin University’s Food and Mood Center.

She said, “While Australians eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, the link with depression has never been assessed in a group of Australians until now”.

In a statement, Lane said, “Australians who ate the most ultra-processed food had about a 23 percent higher risk of depression compared to those who ate the least amount”.

The participants in the study were initially not taking any medication for depression or anxiety and were tracked for more than 15 years.

Even after controlling for characteristics such as smoking and poor education, income, and physical activity, which have been linked to poor health outcomes, the data demonstrate that a higher intake of ultra-processed food is connected with a higher risk of depression.

Lane explained that while the study did not prove that ultra-processed food necessarily caused depression, it showed that eating more ultra-processed food was associated with an increased risk of depression.

Lane further said, “Depression is one of the most common mental disorders across the globe and it is a major health problem because it negatively affects daily living and well-being through lasting low energy, changes in appetite and sleep, loss of interest or pleasure, sadness, and sometimes thoughts of suicide”.

“Identifying a critical level of consumption that may increase the risk of depression will help consumers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers make more informed decisions around dietary choices, interventions, and public health strategies”, Lane added.

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