Any of us who have ever turned to
junk food over a stretch of time came to realize it doesn't make us feel our
best.
Whether our poison is salty potato
chips or indulgent candy, cakes or other sugary desserts, we know it's not good
for us physically. And we now know, too, that it's not good for us emotional
and mental health either.
And now a new study from Columbia
University that was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
shows a link between eating junk food and depression.
Yes. Constantly munching on candy
bars, drinking sugar-laden soda, and eating foods high in carbs can alter our
moods without us even realizing it. This is in addition to fats and sugars
causing cognitive impairment, which we learned from another study this week.
The Columbia study looked at
post-menopausal woman, but James Gangwisch, an assistant professor at
Columbia's department of psychiatry, says he always suspected that eating a lot
of sugars affected men as well.
"We expected that people who
are depressed are more likely to eat more sweets and are known to crave sweets,
and we excluded all the people who are depressed already," Gangwisch says
of the study. "We were looking at the relationship of the glycemic index
of the diet to new cases of depression."
The index measures how much
people's blood sugar is raised by the particular foods they eat.
Gangwisch's team took
measurements from a food study of 70,000 women, none of whom were depressed at
the start. It looked at their diets and levels of depression based on the
questionnaire and then a three-year follow-up.
The results were clear that those
who ate foods with a higher glycemic index were at risk of developing
depression, and those who ate foods with lower levels of sugars had a lower
rate of depression, Gangwisch says.
Lactose from dairy products has a
low glycemic index and was associated with being protective against depression,
he says. The biggest trigger was added sugars rather than just total sugars and
carbs.
"Eating a higher fiber
intake with fruits and whole foods, vegetables and grains were protective of
developing against depression," Gangwisch says. "Refined grains
increased the risk of developing depression."
What happens if you eat foods
with a lot of sugar or drink a soft drink with a lot of sugar that will raise
your blood sugar that prompts the body to release insulin to lower the level,
Gangwisch says. The body releases counter measures to help increase the blood
sugar, and if the sugar supply to the brain isn't enough, it can affect your
mood.
Fruits have sugars but are low in
the glycemic index. The fiber associated with it compared to fruit juices slows
down the rate blood sugar is released in the blood stream. That keeps the blood
sugar at an even keel and prevents spikes and troughs, he says.
"When people eat candy it
leads to craving to more candy," Gangwisch says. "Your blood sugar
can go out too high, and insulin is sent out. It can make you feel hungry once
the blood sugar goes low again and lead to cravings for more. You end up on a
rollercoaster."
Eating a bad diet high in sugars
can also trigger cardiovascular disease that's linked to depression. That is
also the cause for resistance to insulin.
So when it comes to your mood,
leave out the candy bars, Danishes, cakes, and other foods that you can check
on for their high glycemic index even though some studies have found benefits
in chocolate regarding heart health.
As for those people who are
already depressed and weren't part of a controlled study, Gangwisch says you
can't draw the conclusion that the diet is definitely the cause. But when you
see new cases added over time to those who became depressed from that junk food
diet, it strengthens the argument that diet may be causing depression in
people.
"There have been
experimental studies that found that when given higher GI diets, it negatively
affect mood pretty quickly," Gangwisch says. "There is a mouse model
study that induced low blood sugar with insulin - the depression began in a few
hours and lasted 24 to 48 hours."
Gangwisch says the advice we've
gotten for years still holds true: Eat a healthy and balanced diet, and that
not only leads to better physical health but mental health as well.
"Most any nutritionist will
tell you avoid too many sweets and higher refined carbohydrates, and so the
results of our study add to that," Gangwisch says. "We should have a
good, balanced, and healthy diet with whole fruits and vegetables that are
natural and seasonal."
Courtesy of: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/buck-wargo/searching-for-happiness-its-official----toss-out-the-junk-food_b_7747132.html?utm_hp_ref=diet-and-nutrition
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