British find depression linked to processed foods

William Atkins
Monday, 02 November 2009 17:05

Science - Health

A study performed in the United Kingdom found that among middle-aged civil servants, depression was much less of a chance when people ate a diet full of natural foods rather than processed foods.


The article “Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age” appears in the November 2009 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry (Nov 2009; 195: 408-413).

Its authors are Tasnime N. Akbaraly and Archana Singh-Manoux, Eric J. Brunner, Jane E. Ferrie, Michael G. Marmot, and Mika Kivimaki--all from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, United Kingdom.

They researched the relationship between dietary patterns and symptoms of depression with respect to overall diet.

They analyzed data from 3,486 civil servants from the United Kingdom who participated in the Whitehall II prospective cohort study.

About one-fourth of the participants were women (26.2%) and about three-fourths of them were men. As a group, their mean age was 55.6 years.

In the Whitehall II study, two dietary groups were identified.

One was called “whole food” in which the people ate mostly natural foods such as vegetables, fruits, and fish.



The other group was called “processed food,” in which the people eat mostly highly processed foods such as fried foods, processed meats, refined grains, sweetened desserts, and high-fat dairy products.



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