I for one am a guy who enjoys his junk food. Sometimes nothing can satisfy my hunger like a ten piece chicken nugget meal at McDonalds or a Dorito Taco Loco at Taco Bell. I definitely need to get around to eating more of the latter. There have been weeks in my life that junk food made up the majority of my diet. Those weeks were some of the most stressful & depressing weeks of my young life. Constraints in my time caused me to seek quick meal options like fast food and microwaveable meals. Those meals led to a hint of depression, and for good reason.
A recent study done at The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain shows that the consumption of junk food leads to depression. People who eat junk food are 51 per cent more likely to develop depression than those that don’t. The study goes on to reveal that junk food eaters also tend to be single, less active and work longer. Working longer has definitely been my curse. According to Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, a researcher on the topic, “The more fast food you consume, the greater the risk of depression… but even eating small quantities is linked to a significantly higher chance of developing depression.” This isn’t necessarily a good sign for obese Americans with a junk food diet. There is a good chance that their depression is close to its peak due to low self-esteem, but junk food is just the icing on the cake (no pun intended). The study was conducted using 8,964 participants, all healthy. Out of the 8,964, 463 developed some form of depression. But what could be causing the depression you ask? Why, it’s the fact that everything isn’t coated in Big Mac sauce! It’s the downfall of the junk food industry as we know it! People want their Big Mac sauce!
All kidding aside, what is suspected to be the cause is a lack of nutrients in the food. Said nutrients include group B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and olive oil. So next time you get a Tendercrisp at Burger King, stop by GNC and get some B-12 vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and then swing by Publix and pick up some olive oil. Smash it all into the chicken patty then you’ll be good to go! If you care to read up further on the study, it is published in Public Health Nutrition located here: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8480071