A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found a correlation between a high-inflammatory diet and an increased risk of depression.
And the researchers say their findings will have implications for public health. This is because it shows that a controlled diet may help people with depression or even prevent the disease in the first place.
Participants included 30,627 people in the United States surveyed from 2007 to 2018 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a research program designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. was included.
The aim of this study was to develop the Dietary Inflammation Index (DII), a scoring algorithm designed to estimate how diet affects inflammation in the body and, consequently, health outcomes. , was to assess relevance to cross-sectional studies of NHANES.
Participants were asked about the foods they consumed in their diet, scored based on dietary inflammation, and were also rated for depression.
Based on this data, researchers discovered a so-called J-shaped relationship. It is defined, according to scholars, as a non-linear relationship between two variables, appearing as a curve that initially descends and then rises to higher heights. Starting point between DII and depression.
That is, at some point, the amount of inflammation in my body seemed to exceed what my body was capable of.
We then found that higher inflammation in a participant’s body began to correlate with a significantly higher risk of depression in the participant, as indicated by the J-shape.
This J-shaped relationship indicates a positive association between depression and inflammation, with researchers assessing demographic data, lifestyle, disease, body mass index (BMI), C-reactive protein (CRP) There was no effect even after adjusting for factors such as This is the level of certain proteins the liver makes when inflammation in the body is too high.
According to the study authors, this confirmed the association between high inflammation and depression in adults in the United States.
Studies have linked high intakes of inflammatory foods such as sugars and fats and low intakes of fruits and vegetables to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and coronary heart disease.
Other studies, on the other hand, have shown that the Mediterranean diet is a low-inflammatory diet, high in vegetables and fruits, with more seafood than meat, and healthy fatty foods like olive oil can actually prevent or improve inflammation. has been shown to be useful for chronic disease.
Previous research has found that many chronic diseases can actually worsen as a result of chronic inflammation in the body, known as slow, long-term inflammation. this chronic inflammation.
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression, and this percentage is increasing year by year.
In Canada alone, an estimated 1 in 4 Canadians suffer from depression severe enough to require treatment at some point in their lives.
According to Harvard Medical School, high-inflammatory foods that should be avoided or limited include refined carbohydrates, French fries and other fried foods, pops and other sugary drinks, red and processed meats, margarine, shortening, lard, etc.
Nutrient-rich foods such as leafy greens, nuts, tomatoes, olive oil, fatty fish, and fruits should be consumed as part of an anti-inflammatory diet.
The researchers wrote that because diet is a modifiable factor, these findings have significant implications not only for clinical practice but also for public health. Restricting sex foods can reduce and prevent depression, researchers say.
