While you may think that burger from your favorite fast food joint will bring you a boost of happiness, a new study shows that the opposite is actually true.

The study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, suggests that eating junk food raises the risk of depression, the Guardian reported. The research calls for doctors to give dietary advice to patients along with their other individualized treatment for depression.

The findings are the results of the analysis of researchers from Britain, Spain, Finland and Australia, among other countries, who data-mined 41 other previous studies linking diet and depression.

Researchers found that foods containing lots of sugar, fat, or those that are highly processed, commonly let to inflammation in the body. The study said that chronic inflammation can negatively affect brain chemistry, leading to illnesses like depression.

Junk foods can also impact the neurotransmitters responsible for mood swings, so that quick Taco Bell burrito pick-me-up, is far more likely to let you down than anything.

The researchers suggest that adhering to a healthy diet, like the Mediterranean diet with high amounts of fish and nuts, or another diet low in inflammatory foods, appears to provide some protection against depression.

“Poor diet may increase the risk of depression as these are results from longitudinal studies which excluded people with depression at the beginning of the study. Therefore the studies looked at how diet at baseline is related to new cases of depression,” said Dr. Camille Lassale, the study’s lead author.

The World Health Organization estimates that 300 million people around the world have depression. In the United States, about 16.2 million people, or 6.7% of all adults, have experiences a major depressive episode in the past year.

It’s the researchers’ hope that new information like this could help those dealing with depression better manage their symptoms.


Also see, This is the best exercise for your mental health.


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Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. Sheโ€™s thrown away just as many meals as sheโ€™s proud of.