Emotional eating is very common – many people reach for a bowl of ice cream, some cookies, a bag of chips or whatever their comfort food of choice is when they get down or stressed. This may help them feel better momentarily, but a new study shows that eating junk food significantly increases one’s risk of developing depression.
The research showed that the more trans fat you eat, the higher your risk of depression. In fact, people that ate more trans fats had a 48% increased risk of depression than those that didn’t eat trans fat. What is particularly interesting about this study is that the diets of the ‘high’ trans fat group in this study (those with significantly increased risk of depression) actually contained a fairly low amount of trans fat (only about 0.4% of their total caloric intake) compared to what people typically consume in this country. In the US, the average person in the US consumes about 2.5% of their total calories from trans fats, which is far higher – more than 600% higher – than that consumed in this study.
What does this all mean? All of our clients know that there is no safe amount of trans fat – this means that you should not eat anything that contains trans fats, hydrogenated fats/vegetable oils, partially hydrogenated fats/vegetable oils or shortening. And be aware that “0 grams” doesn’t mean zero trans fat. Food manufacturers are permitted to list a product’s trans-fat amount as “0 g” if each serving of the food contains less than half a gram of the fat per serving, so many of them just made the servings sizes smaller to reach this lower limit. This means, of course, that you could still consume significant amounts of trans fat from such a product — especially if the serving size is small and your appetite is big. To make sure “0 g” truly means what it implies, check the ingredients list.
The good news is that other fats, including olive oil might actually lessen the risk of depression. This same study found that consuming more than 20 grams of olive oil a day could reduce the risk of depression 20-30%. That’s about 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil per day.
So, change the oil you eat and significantly decrease your risk of depression. Read food labels carefully until you find those products that don’t contain trans fats. Keep products with trans fat out of your grocery cart, off your dinner plate, and out of your pantry and freezer. As often as possible, cook from scratch, using fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, good fats (like olive oil), and lean meats.
Remember: While moderate amounts of healthy fats are critical to your body’s function, trans fat is nothing but trouble. You can live longer, healthier and happier without it.