Prospective Association Between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Incident Depressive Symptoms in the French NutriNet-Santé Cohort

The love for ultra-processed foods may precipitate the onset of depressive symptoms in men and women.

This research work studied the consumption of ultra-processed foods in connection with the occurrence of depressive symptoms. Scientists from France engaged 26,730 adults to use a food dairy to record what the type of foods they ate over the course of 5 years and report whether they experienced symptoms of depression within the same period.

Researchers found out that depressive symptoms occurred at a high frequency among regular consumers of ultra-processed foods. This 2019 study of French men and women documented a positive association between generous intake of ultra-processed foods and increased risk of depression.