New study links processed food, risk for depression

Which brings us around to Michael Pollan

By Culinate staff

November 5, 2009

Earlier this week, the BBC reported on a new study that showed a correlation between depression and processed foods:

Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests.

What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found.

Apparently, the study accounts for the fact that if you’re depressed and lacking energy, you may not feel like cooking and instead go straight for the Cheetos:

Although the researchers cannot totally rule out the possibility that people with depression may eat a less healthy diet, they believe it is unlikely to be the reason for the findings because there was no association with diet and previous diagnosis of depression.

This report brought to mind the final section of Michael Pollan’s essay in the New York Times last summer, titled "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch." Writes Pollan:

The fact is that not cooking may well be deleterious to our health, and there is reason to believe that the outsourcing of food preparation to corporations and 16-year-olds has already taken a toll on our physical and psychological well-being.

When we’re eating processed foods, we’re not cooking. And when we’re cooking, we’re generally eating fewer processed foods. Which is good for our health — mental and emotional as well as physical.