Junk food causes depression

[Conservationist]

Briefly, why to hate prepared food: more packaging, more energy put into processing it, not good for you and full of chemicals that leach into the environment and it's not clear that they're harmless.

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

What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found.

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

All in all, a win for both the natural world and the human one, if people pay attention.

I doubt many will, but some will and will surge ahead of others.

That's natural selection, I guess...

[AnEducatedForester]

Maybe the side effects of junk food...such as looking like a huge lardbutt in the mirror...cause depression?

Maybe obesity increases the risk for depression?

Either way, you're not here anymore to post stupid little links and articles like this anymore and I'm suddenly feeling happier.

[greenteadrinker]

Now I know why I'm an optimist. Cukes!

[greengiant123]

This could be a case of correlation and not causation. Perhaps the depression leads people to unhealthy food.

Then again you could be on to something.

An insurance company would love to use this as an excuse to not pay out. If you cause the problem with your diet, sometimes they can deny coverage.

[SgtMaj]

This could be a case of correlation and not causation. Perhaps the depression leads people to unhealthy food.

It's probably a viscious circle.

[AnEducatedForester]

I've lost 70lbs in the last year just by giving up soda and eating less meat, avoiding fatty foods. My wife, as the main architect of my diet, deserves most of the credit.

I equate it to quitting smoking...as I gave up fatty food, then soda, then less meat...I slowly went through several little withdrawal periods where my stomach wasn't kind to me...but the truth is that I wasn't really starving...just learning to reduce my portion size and letting my body readjust its size and metabolism over time. I lost most of this weight with light/moderate exercise only...I didn't have Jillian or Bob torturing me in a gym somewhere. I am not the biggest loser...and I'm not done losing yet. I feel like I was depressed when I was fat(ter), but I don't blame the food, just like I don't blame the cigarettes for my addiction from age 21-28. The addicted are quick to blame big business or the "drug" for their addiction, but they chose to get addicted and stay addicted and they can choose to quit anytime they REALLY want to. No pain no gain.

Yes, processed foods should be avoided...but I still eat some every once in a while. The portion sizes and frequency of our junk food consumption is the majority of the problem...not its very existence. If we would all eat less of it, it would be less profitable to sell, then make...and the junk food market would shrink as it should. I believe regulating it away is going to take decades on decades...educating people to eat less of it would take less time and money and emphasize the reality that personal responsibility is needed in our diets.

I'm guessing however, that just like with cigarettes...we'll blame junk food manufacturers for our crimes against ourselves, because its easier than facing the truth and changing ourselves directly. So instead of just changing our personal choices and lifestyles, we'll tax soda and junk food until its so expensive that some people will start to change out of financial necessity and then eventually the rest might follow along. It's a crappy system to fix a really simple, personal problem.

[tigerlily78]

I'm guessing however, that just like with cigarettes...we'll blame junk food manufacturers for our crimes against ourselves, because its easier than facing the truth and changing ourselves directly. So instead of just changing our personal choices and lifestyles, we'll tax soda and junk food until its so expensive that some people will start to change out of financial necessity and then eventually the rest might follow along. It's a crappy system to fix a really simple, personal problem.

I wonder though if for some people the personal health risks will never prompt them to quit a bad habit, whereas a financial incentive is more tangible. For example, maybe eating a big mac and fries every week raises your risk of heart disease by 20%... to most people that is just a statistic which really does not affect them until they DO get heart disease.

On the other hand, my mother smoked for over 30 years. She tried to quit multiple times using multiple methods. My father had two heart attacks and both my parents continued to smoke. My mother has high blood pressure and a few other medical conditions that would probably be better served if she quit smoking. But none of these things were enough to compel her to REALLY quit. The thing that finally pushed her to decide to quit was having some financial shortfalls and knowing a cigarette tax increase was going to be applied in a couple months. She finally came to the conclusion that cigarettes would always be going up in price, but on their relatively fixed incomes she would not be able to afford them eventually. In her words, "In the end, only rich people will be able to afford to smoke." So she might as well quit NOW and have that extra money to put towards things they need.

[AnEducatedForester]

I wonder though if for some people the personal health risks will never prompt them to quit a bad habit, whereas a financial incentive is more tangible. For example, maybe eating a big mac and fries every week raises your risk of heart disease by 20%... to most people that is just a statistic which really does not affect them until they DO get heart disease.

On the other hand, my mother smoked for over 30 years. She tried to quit multiple times using multiple methods. My father had two heart attacks and both my parents continued to smoke. My mother has high blood pressure and a few other medical conditions that would probably be better served if she quit smoking. But none of these things were enough to compel her to REALLY quit. The thing that finally pushed her to decide to quit was having some financial shortfalls and knowing a cigarette tax increase was going to be applied in a couple months. She finally came to the conclusion that cigarettes would always be going up in price, but on their relatively fixed incomes she would not be able to afford them eventually. In her words, "In the end, only rich people will be able to afford to smoke." So she might as well quit NOW and have that extra money to put towards things they need.

Right, eventually she had no choice due to financial concerns. But those financial concerns were strictly based on decades of tax increases on the product she was using. I'll admit that also weighed on my mind before I quit, but I actually had to decide that I wanted to quit...I had tried to quit for financial reasons many times just like your mother and failed. The source of addiction is actually in our own brains, drugs and junk food are just our weapons of choice in the self-destruction game. My crutch in breaking the smoking addiction was nicotine gum...but the strength of my commitment was the real reason I quit. I actually think addicts suffer from self-esteem and worth issues. When my wife committed to marrying me, it didn't seem fair to her for me to continue to kill myself with cigarettes anymore, I had to be better than that and respect myself more.

My big problem with taxing the product/drug is that it's a slow, ineffective method of curbing the habit in the general population. Perhaps if we taxed both the product, and the outcome/results of abusing the product we would see greater results more quickly. For instance, adding an obesity tax or fee to health insurance so that those who abuse junk food pay more for their vice on both ends of the spectrum and can make the financial connection. Health insurance, the VA and other programs actually encourage many people to be unhealthy because they figure they've payed into the system and it should pay for their lifestyle choices...but why not stop killing ourselves directly and reduce the size and cost of the system instead of leaning on it and blaming the drug/product for our problems?

I'm sure I'll get blasted for this proposition of taxing both ends...but I also think we need cessation and behavioral aid programs too, to help those people who do make the decision to finally do right by themselves and their families/friends.

[BareBeliever]

I think this statement is a little misleading and it would be more accurate to say that there is a correlation between a healthy diet and improved mood.

Either way, I agree with the point of the article, but do want to give a personal account that explains why I like my phrasing of the statement better...

My best friend in high school was bulimic. Because bulimia can't be detected (there's usually minimal, if any, weight loss in the patient), none of us knew that was going on until she actually told us 5 years later. She was a healthy eater in the sense that she never ate junk food - unless of course she was going to throw it up - and led a seemingly perfect life: very close with her brother and parents, had a super cute boyfriend (they won "Cutest Couple" in the yearbook that year), got straight-As, had hobbies and friends and was a generous person who loved helping others. Even though she seemed happy on the outside, she later told us how she was miserably depressed on the inside and would get so mad at herself bc she didn't know what was causing her unhappiness.

Now, my friend is getting her masters in Physiology and Nutrition and works at an Eating Disorder Clinic where she sees her story retold by nearly all the new patients. After studying the disease, researchers discovered that the cause of patients' depression was their mal-nutrition. And don't assume that people have to be skinny to be malnourished - this was the case for overweight clients as well.

So my point is that please don't be fooled into thinking that eating junk food will cause depression. In fact, any food is fine in moderation, and even the "healthy" foods can be bad if eaten in excess. Listen to your body, follow your cravings but limit them to a bite or two if you feel that they are "bad" for you, and make sure to eat a balanced and varied range of grains, fruits, meats, vegs and fats (yes I said f-a-t-s) throughout the day.

[greenteadrinker]

I am not the biggest loser.

That's still up for debate.
(Sorry, it was a perfect set-up line)

[outsidethebox]

I can see where junk food would cause depression and a whole host of other health problems. First lots of cheap starch and fat not enough fiber, protein and vitamins. If you look at folks that eat a lot of junk food you don't see muscle you see fat on them. So junk foods don't feed your muscle as much as your fat.

Being a man it's easy for me to change my physic by diet and exercise. I could look like Mr. Universe if I was that committed. Or if I didn't listen to my body I could end up like a small elephant. I worked out with a trainer which everyone should do if you want to work out. I was going for a more athletic stamina body which I was already working with. But I pushed it a little bit more and got pumped up my friends would tease me that I had better get a bra. I had more cleavage than some of the girls.

My legs which were massive already from walking 30 miles a day wheeling a 1,000 pound rack around it was brutal not many can do it. I'm surprised I could but only through mental conditioning was I able. Well when I started to work my legs out and got to where they were rubbing because of the muscle time to stop. But during this time I fed my muscle before and after I worked out, studied the science of building muscle. But when it came to junk food I would not eat much of the bread on my burgers.

During my workout time I noticed people who ate a lot of bread were fat. I cut bread pretty much out of my diet, it works if you want to lose weight or shape up. You get enough starches from what's out there already without adding more. I ate a lot more protein to feed the muscle I was building.

If you are big and fat you already have bulked up (that's the positive) in 6 months with training and diet you could lose weight and build muscle at the same time it just takes commitment and a good trainer to push you. I can't stress having a trainer as most people that start to work out don't know what they are doing 99%. So if you still want to eat burgers toss the bread.

[AnEducatedForester]

I am not the biggest loser.

That's still up for debate.
(Sorry, it was a perfect set-up line)

Nice... how presumptuous of me to exclude myself so quickly!

[SgtMaj]

I wonder though if for some people the personal health risks will never prompt them to quit a bad habit, whereas a financial incentive is more tangible. For example, maybe eating a big mac and fries every week raises your risk of heart disease by 20%... to most people that is just a statistic which really does not affect them until they DO get heart disease.

It's different things for different people. The thing that finally got me to quit smoking was cold weather, and me not wanting to go stand out in it to smoke.

[Syera]

A correlation between junk food and depression doesn't surprise me. Refined carbohydrates tend to result in highs and crashes.

[CuppieCake12]

I wonder though if for some people the personal health risks will never prompt them to quit a bad habit, whereas a financial incentive is more tangible. For example, maybe eating a big mac and fries every week raises your risk of heart disease by 20%... to most people that is just a statistic which really does not affect them until they DO get heart disease.

It's different things for different people. The thing that finally got me to quit smoking was cold weather, and me not wanting to go stand out in it to smoke.

I like!