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 The Lycaeum Forums » Integrate » Science (Moderators: b, gorfehttimrek)Topic:
 Depression linked to processed foods

[spencer wallace]

Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests.

"After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different diets.

Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole foods.

By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8334353.stm



Well that's a pretty substantial effect size!! 

[psilocyborg]

My guess is it has a lot to do with processed sugars and grains causing spikes in blood sugar levels.  It could also be tied into the endorphin system.  I read an article a while back discussing a study showing that sugars, and even sugar-substitutes, cause mild addictive behavior due to the reward pathways associated with the taste of sweet foods.  Chronically pushing one's pleasure buttons, regardless of the means, is bound to cause some amount of anhedonia, imo.

[b]

How about it being tied to people who also do little exercising and are generally unhealthy & overweight (and subsequently more prone to depressive behavior)?

Can anyone find a link to the article or journal/publication title for this?

[Mens Rea]

How about it being tied to people who also do little exercising and are generally unhealthy & overweight (and subsequently more prone to depressive behavior)?

Ye, I have also noticed people who are overweight and slovenly are generally not as conscientious about other people, or anything beyond themselves. This is just an association from what I've witnessed, and nothing definitive. Other types of people who satiate their desires through self-impulsive behavior (IE junkies) exude the same behavior, and isn't just limited to fat people. They also tend to get more frustrated easily, and have more emotional reactions. But again, all this could be tied in to the depression that they are facing--either due to hormonal or physiological imbalances from eating, or from self-defacing body issues they are having.

But seriously, I think people are beginning to realize more and more that the food market has been avidly manipulating us. I mean, there are literally thousands of chemicals out there in our food that has NEVER been tested by the FDA, that we are consuming on a daily basis. Who really knows what the long-term effects of these chemicals are? In fast growing urban civilizations, there has also been a steadily declining sperm count in males over the past century. Maybe this is attributed to pollution, technological radiation, the food market, or a combination of all three.

[b]

there are literally thousands of chemicals out there in our food that has NEVER been tested by the FDA, that we are consuming on a daily basis.

I wouldn't go so far as to say this.  I think you over-interpreted my statement.  I just think good health can go a long way. 

[pshmell]

also acne. i stopped having acne when i started eating non-shit-food.

especially soda and synth. sweeteners

[Mens Rea]

also acne. i stopped having acne when i started eating non-shit-food.

especially soda and synth. sweeteners

I used to break out whenever I consumed milk-based products, especially milk, smoothies, and ice cream. I realized it had to do with the growth hormones that's in the milk causing the bacteria to grow, the same reason that anabolic steroids are attributed to acne breakouts.

Biochemist: What I mean is things like Yellow 5, phosphoric acid, preservatives of all kind, many others out there that the FDA has never tested for long-term effects, and yet is used in food consumption by humans.

[Noman]

If I drink Budweiser on a regular basis, I break out across my back and shoulders.
Poison in, poison out.
We're hard wired to seek out fats, sugars, and salts and consume as much of them as possible because our primate bodies still think that fats, sugars, and salts are hard to come by so we get a pleasure reward from consuming them. As we continue to consume them, it becomes harder to get a pleasure reward without them.
I was born lucky - I have virtually no sweet tooth.
I just cut straight to the chase and drink.

[5-HT2a]

it makes intuitive sense that if all you eat is shit, you'll feel like shit; but if you eat food that is healthful, beneficial, and aesthetically pleasing then you will feel better, but its good to have an empirical results from a well-designed study to back you up.

[biosearch]

How about it being tied to people who also do little exercising and are generally unhealthy & overweight (and subsequently more prone to depressive behavior)?

Can anyone find a link to the article or journal/publication title for this?

Yea, definitely. It is all tied together. People who eat refined-fast foods usually do not have healthy lifestyles. They do not have the time or will not take the time to both get and prepare healthy-natural unprocessed foods. They do not have time to do exercise or get out in the sunlight. There is a psychiatric condition that comes from the lack of a certain amount of daily light-sunlight, a condition known as SAD -Seasonal Affective Disorder, which happens to people living in northern latitudes. It is he lack of exercise, diet, light, caring for oneself, being  de-stressed. They all go hand in hand.

[Noman]

I just heard something about how eating a steady diet of crap results in intestinal flora that keep the subject obese even if they change their diet.

[biosearch]

I just heard something about how eating a steady diet of crap results in intestinal flora that keep the subject obese even if they change their diet.

There is no specific enteric bacteria that caters to the "Junk food" diet and makes a person fat. It has more to do with intestinal motility and other bacteria that put them in check. Low fiber, high fats and carbohydrates get processed at a different rate. The intestines are like a fermentor. The length of time food it stays in the intestines and gets reabsorbed, acted on by bacteria make difference in the total flora.  Also, certain bacteria such as lactic bacteria will increase intestinal motility, speed of passage through the GI, and also generate lactic acid that controls pathogenic bacteria. Certain foods that have high nitrate levels get acted on by bacteria and produce nitrosomines, mutagenic alkylating substances.

[b]

Eating bad food (too much fat/sugar) for extended periods of time can "burn out" receptor systems in your brain (GLP-1 especially) that are responsible for controlling feelings of fullness.  Hence the "I never get full" thing that overweight people often say. 

There is some truth to the "I never get full" thing though; people with leptin deficiency.  However this only accounts for a very small percentage of overweight people that complain about this effect.  The rest are just suffering from the long-term effect of their diet and/or genetics.

[Mens Rea]

There is no specific enteric bacteria that caters to the "Junk food" diet and makes a person fat. It has more to do with intestinal motility and other bacteria that put them in check. Low fiber, high fats and carbohydrates get processed at a different rate. The intestines are like a fermentor. The length of time food it stays in the intestines and gets reabsorbed, acted on by bacteria make difference in the total flora.  Also, certain bacteria such as lactic bacteria will increase intestinal motility, speed of passage through the GI, and also generate lactic acid that controls pathogenic bacteria. Certain foods that have high nitrate levels get acted on by bacteria and produce nitrosomines, mutagenic alkylating substances.

Hmm.... correct me if I am wrong, but I think you have inadvertently just explained how beer makes the belly flabby and obtuse? And possibly may this explain why the no-carb diet appeared to have immediate, short-term, temporary results?

[Noman]

There is no specific enteric bacteria that caters to the "Junk food" diet and makes a person fat.

I wish that I could remember the source, but IIRC, the study fed mice a type of food high in fat and sugar, harvested their flora and then introduced it into the guts of mice that had been eating the exact same food minus the added fat and sugar. These mice were continued to be fed the no fat or sugar food, but they gained weight.

[Misanthropy]

My uncle is on some diet to clean his gut of yeast. He's lost considerable weight & girth.

[biosearch]

I wish that I could remember the source, but IIRC, the study fed mice a type of food high in fat and sugar, harvested their flora and then introduced it into the guts of mice that had been eating the exact same food minus the added fat and sugar. These mice were continued to be fed the no fat or sugar food, but they gained weight.

I would like to see that article, if you can find it. There is such a thing as strain selection due to media manipulation. Some bacteria already have the facultative ability to switch on different metabolic pathways upon changing their carbon sources, i.e. sugar, fats, etc. The bacteria that are selected can modify their metabolic process. There are many different strains of E. coli, for instance. Some are totally benign and are used extensively in recombinant work. Some have the ability to produce protolytic enzymes so as to digest intestinal tissue, thereby causing severe enteric disorders-diarrhea, internal bleeding, etc. Those are the famous (or infamous) pathogens such as 0157:H7. There are over 700 different serotypes of E.coli, alone.

[Mens Rea]

Can you really lose weight by cleaning your intestines of yeast? Couldn't you just get on a regime of anti-fungals, would it work then?

[biosearch]

Can you really lose weight by cleaning your intestines of yeast? Couldn't you just get on a regime of anti-fungals, would it work then?

Not all yeasts and fungi are destructive. Some excrete B Vitamins, some like Candida ablicans can cause mucosal inflammations. No, you would not wish to ingest a fungicide! Many are important to maintaining healthy flora.

[Papa Doobie]

knew I needed to cut back on the HFCS...