Eating foods high in trans-fats and saturated fats increases the risk of depression, according to a Spanish study published on January 26, confirming previous studies that linked "junk food" with the disease. Researchers also showed that some products, such as olive oil, which is high in healthy omega-9 fatty acids, could fight against the risk of mental illness.
Authors of the wide-reaching study, from the universities of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, followed and analysed the diet and lifestyle of over 12,000 volunteers over six years.
When the study began, none of the participants had been diagnosed with depression; by the end, 657 of them were new sufferers. "Participants with an elevated consumption of trans-fats (fats present in artificial form in industrially-produced pastries and fast food) presented up to a 48 percent increase in the risk of depression when they were compared to participants who did not consume these fats," the head study author said.
Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, also noted that in the event "more trans-fats were consumed, the greater the harmful effect they produced in the volunteers."
The research team found, at the same time, that after assessing the impact of polyunsaturated fats - composed of larger amounts of fish and vegetable oils - and olive oil, these products "are associated with a lower risk of suffering depression."
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