ergo-log.com

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

02.03.2025

Ultra-processed foods make you anxious and depressed

The more ultra-processed foods from the food industry you consume, the more likely you are to go through life feeling depressed, sad, anxious and worried. That is the conclusion reached by Australian researchers in a meta-analysis published in Nutrients in 2022.

Study
Melissa Lane, affiliated with Deakin University, collected 17 previously published observational studies in which researchers had looked at the association between mental disorders and the consumption of ultra-processed foods. Several of these studies were eligible for meta-analyses.

Results
On average, the study participants got 32 percent of their energy from ultra-processed foods. This ranged from 17 to 55 percent.

According to the meta-analysis, a high intake of ultra-processed foods increased the risk of mental disorders in general by 53 percent. This is shown in the first figure below.

According to other meta-analyses, study participants who consumed a lot of ultra-processed foods were 44 and 48 percent more likely to have depressive symptoms and anxiety, respectively.

When people are not mentally well, their diet deteriorates. That could be an explanation.

Due to the absence of fiber and secondary metabolites such as polyphenols and the presence of all kinds of unhealthy substances such as advanced glycation end products and quickly absorbable carbohydrates, ultra-processed foods can disrupt brain function. This could of course also be an explanation.

Most of the studies that Lane used were cross-sectional. These kind of studies do not allow to determine the nature of an association. However, Lane was also able to perform a meta-analysis using only prospective studies. Prospective studies follow people over time. Epidemiologists consider prospective studies to be more reliable than cross-sectional studies.

According to that separate meta-analysis, study participants who initially functioned well mentally were 22 percent more likely to become depressed if they consumed a lot of ultra-processed foods. This suggests that the second explanation holds water.

Source:
Nutrients. 2022 Jun 21;14(13):2568.

More:
Fast food makes your life less pleasurable 08.05.2015

Archives:
Psychology
Depression
Junk Food

How ultra processed foods make you fat If you replace all non-intensively processed foods in your diet with ready-made ultra processed foods, you will eat 500 kilocalories more every day than if you only eat non-intensively processed foods.	Junk food less fattening with vitamin C Fattening up rats with junk food is more difficult if you give them vitamin C at the same time.	Fast food chains are upping the amount of calories and sodium in their products Between 2012 and 2016, the products that fast food chains sell to their customers have become even less healthy than they already were.