Does Eating Fast Food Lead to Depression?

Let’s face it: we all succumb to temptation from time to time. Downing a couple of warm and doughy Timbits can be irresistible when the moment’s just right (a beckoning box in your office’s lunchroom, perhaps?).

This can lead to momentary bouts of guilt for some of us. But a new study shows that deeper and more serious depression is a real possibility for those who regularly consume fast food and pastries.

Researchers in Spain assessed a group of almost 9,000 participants in a large cohort study called the SUN study. They included people who did not have depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or hypertension.

These people were asked to complete questionnaires about their food consumption, specifically for fast food (including hamburgers, sausages, and pizza) and baked goods (including muffins, doughnuts, and croissants).

They were then followed up for just over six years to determine if any of them had been diagnosed with clinical depression or had been prescribed antidepressant medication during that time.

The researchers found that the people with the highest consumption of fast food and baked goods were 37 percent more likely to develop depression compared with the group who consumed the lowest amount.

Timbits to depression?

Does this mean that a couple ofTimbits now and then will lead you down the path to darkness? Not at all.

The researchers concluded their results demonstrated “a positive dose-response relationship between the consumption of fast food and/or commercial baked goods and the risk of depression.” In other words, the higher the consumption, the higher the risk of depression—don't worry too much about those beckoning Timbits.