So long, pinballs, bears and candy corn – a well-known psychiatrist says that the only thing you should definitely do if you’re depressed is to throw away the junk food.
“Your gut health is critical to brain health,” said Dr. Daniel Amen, a brain imaging researcher in California, on a TikTok last week. “If you have, for example, an ultra-processed food diet, you have a dramatically increased risk of struggling with depression.”
Researchers have long emphasized the importance of the gut-brain connection—the idea that the gut and brain communicate constantly through a complex network of nerves and chemical signals.
The brain signals the intestines to prepare for digesting food, while stress can trigger signals that cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea.
In turn, the gut microbiome—the collection of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in our digestive system—produces chemicals that can affect brain function and affect mood.
Amen notes that over 100 trillion microbes, mostly bacteria, make up the microbiome. He refers to them as “bugs” and compares them to “pets”.
“You need to feed your bugs healthy foods, fiber, colorful fruits and vegetables, healthy protein so that your gut can support your brain,” Amen explained.
Ultra-processed foods have earned a bad reputation for being high in calories, sugar, fat and salt and little or no vitamins or fiber. Junk food has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer.
A 2023 study by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health found that people who consume nine or more servings of ultra-processed foods per day have a 50% higher risk of developing depression than those who eat four or fewer daily rations.
Artificial sweeteners and artificially sweetened beverages, in particular, were associated with an increased risk of depression, with researchers suggesting that these chemicals trigger certain transmissions in the brain that can lead to depression.
In a 2023 Gallup poll, 29% of American adults reported being diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives, while 17.8% of Americans said they had depression or were being treated for it.
In addition to affecting your quality of life and relationships, depression can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse.
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Image Source : nypost.com