People reporting a high consumption of processed foods could be more li age
Vauxall
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 195: 408-413. doi:
10.1192/bjp.bp.108.058925
� 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age
Background
Studies of diet and depression have focused primarily on individual
nutrients.
Aims
To examine the association between dietary patterns and depression
using an overall diet approach.
Method
Analyses were carried on data from 3486 participants (26.2% women,
mean age 55.6 years) from the Whitehall II prospective cohort, in
which two dietary patterns were identified: �whole food� (heavily
loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish) and �processed food� (heavily
loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined
grains and high-fat dairy products). Self-reported depression was
assessed 5 years later using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies �
Depression (CES�D) scale.
Results
After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in the highest
tertile of the whole food pattern had lower odds of CES�D depression
(OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.56�0.99) than those in the lowest tertile. In
contrast, high consumption of processed food was associated with an
increased odds of CES�D depression (OR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.11�2.23).
Conclusions
In middle-aged participants, a processed food dietary pattern is a
risk factor for CES�D depression 5 years later, whereas a whole food
pattern is protective.
montygraham
"nutritional science" these days. There are all kinds of molecules in
"processed foods,"' and some such items are quite different than
others. For example, I avoid all "processed food" that has more than
a tiny amount of unsaturated fatty acids or cholesterol. I seek out
such items that are rich in SFAs or are very low in fat, but I also
won't eat anything with aspartame or other "artificial sweeteners."
If they did a study that categorized such items in a reasonable way
and then determined which seemed to be healthy, neutral, or unhealthy,
"nutritional science" would be much more useful. The conclusion of
the study you cited could be predicted by a 5 year old child
probably. It's rather silly to spend money or waste time on this kind
of endeavor, IMO.