Prospective association between ultra-processed food consumption and incident depressive symptoms in the French NutriNet-Santé cohort

• Published in: BMC medicine Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 78 - 13
• Main Authors: Adjibade, Moufidath, Julia, Chantal, Allès, Benjamin, Touvier, Mathilde, Lemogne, Cédric, Srour, Bernard, Hercberg, Serge, Galan, Pilar, Assmann, Karen E., Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 15.04.2019; BMC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Beverages; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Cohort Studies; Confidence intervals; Consumption; Depression; Depression - chemically induced; Depression - pathology; Diet; Diet - psychology; Disease; Epidemiology; Fast Foods - adverse effects; Fats; Female; Food; Food and Nutrition; Food consumption; Food groups; Food processing; France; Hazards; Health promotion; Human health and pathology; Humans; Life Sciences; Male; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Metabolism; Microbiota; Middle Aged; Nutrition research; Processed foods; Prospective cohort; Prospective Studies; Psychiatrics and mental health; Public health; Questionnaires; Recipes; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Sauces; Signs and symptoms; Sociodemographics; Statistical models; Ultra-processed food; Young Adult; France; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Depression; Ultra-processed food; Mental health; Prospective cohort
• ISSN: 1741-7015; 1741-7015
• DOI: 10.1186/s12916-019-1312-y

Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has increased over the last decades in Westernized countries. Our objective was to investigate for the first time the association between the proportion of UPF (%UPF) in the diet and incident depressive symptoms in the NutriNet-Santé cohort. The sample included 20,380 women and 6350 men (aged 18-86 years) without depressive symptoms at the first Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) measurement, using validated cut-offs (CES-D score ≥ 17 for men and ≥ 23 for women). The proportion of UPF in the diet was computed for each subject using the NOVA classification applied to dietary intakes collected by repeated 24-h records (mean = 8; SD = 2.3). The association between UPF and depressive symptoms was evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Over a mean follow-up of 5.4 years, 2221 incident cases of depressive symptoms were identified. After accounting for a wide range of potential confounders, an increased risk of depressive symptoms was observed with an increased %UPF in the diet. In the main model adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, and lifestyle factors, the estimated hazard ratio for a 10% increase in UPF was 1.21 (95% confidence interval = 1.15-1.27). Considering %UPF in food groups, the association was significant only for beverages and sauces or added fats. Overall, UPF consumption was positively associated with the risk of incident depressive symptoms, suggesting that accounting for this non-nutritional aspect of the diet could be important for mental health promotion.