Higher Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods May Increase Risk for Later Depression
Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Sept. 22, 2023 -- Greater ultraprocessed food (UPF) intake is associated with an increased risk for depression, according to a research letter published online Sept. 20 in JAMA Network Open.
Chatpol Samuthpongtorn, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues investigated the association between UPF and its components with incident depression. The analysis included data from 31,712 middle-aged female participants (42 to 62 years) in the Nurses’ Health Study II (2003 to 2017) who were free of depression at baseline.
The researchers found that compared with those in the lowest quintile of UPF consumption, those in the highest quintile had an increased risk for depression, using both strict definition (hazard ratio, 1.49) and broad definition (hazard ratio, 1.34). When examining specific UPF components, only artificially sweetened beverages (hazard ratio, 1.37) and artificial sweeteners (hazard ratio, 1.26) were associated with the risk for depression in an adjusted analysis. Associations were not materially altered in a four-year lag analysis (strict definition: HR, 1.32), arguing against reverse causation.
"These findings suggest that greater UPF intake, particularly artificial sweeteners and artificially sweetened beverages, is associated with increased risk of depression," the authors write. "Although the mechanism associating UPF to depression is unknown, recent experimental data suggests that artificial sweeteners elicit purinergic transmission in the brain, which may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of depression."
One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted September 2023
Read this next
Child Maltreatment Linked to Externalizing, Internalizing Behavior
TUESDAY, May 14, 2024 -- Child maltreatment is associated with increases in externalizing and internalizing behaviors, according to a study published online May 14 in...
Virtual Reality Therapy Can Augment Depression Treatment
MONDAY, May 13, 2024 -- Extended reality-enhanced behavioral activation (XR-BA) may be a feasible, noninferior, and acceptable enhancement to traditional BA for major depressive...
Substituting Meat Could Reduce Ammoniagenesis in Cirrhosis
FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 -- When substituting meat for a nonmeat alternative, lower ammoniagenesis and altered serum metabolomics are seen for patients with cirrhosis, regardless of...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.