Here's yet another good reason to avoid fast foods: a new study from Spain and the Canary Islands found that the risk of depression was 51 percent higher in junk-food-junkies than in those who don't indulge. The foods in question were processed bakery items including donuts and croissants, along with the typical fast foods such as hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza.

The study found that the more fast food a participant consumed overall, the greater the risk of depression. At the study's outset, none of the 8,964 participants had ever been diagnosed with depression or taken antidepressants.

Data on their eating habits was collected via food frequency questionnaires, and then the participants were followed for an average of six months. During that period 493 of them were diagnosed with depression. Those with the greatest consumption of processed baked goods and fast foods were at a much higher risk of being diagnosed with depression than study participants that ate the least amount of junk food or had started to take antidepressants.

The investigators also reported that study participants who ate the most fast food and commercial baked goods were more likely to be single and less active. Smoking and working more than 45 hours a week were also common among this group.  An earlier studied found a 42 percent increased risk of depression associated with eating fast food.

The study was published in the March 2012 issue of Public Health Nutrition.

Article/summary courtesy of Dr. Andrew Weil's website, found here.