White Bread And Pasta Could Make You Depressed

Foods that contain highly refined carbohydrates, even white bread and pasta, can actually take you towards depression, according to dailymail.

Research shows that women in the post-menopausal stage, with diets that are orientated towards these kinds of food, are likely to be suffering from mental illness. On the other hand, women who consumed fibre, whole grains, vegetables and fruits showed less depression.

Scientists studied food habits of 70,000 post-menopausal women, who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, run by the National Institutes of Health, between 1994 and 1998. The information included issues related to depression, as well as their types of food.

It also included information on how the women's diets scored on the glycemic index (GI), a scale which measures how quickly carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars and absorbed by the blood.

Different types of carbohydrates are broken down by the body at different rates, and increase blood sugar levels to varying degrees, depending on the type of food.

If the carbohydrate is highly refined, it gets broken down and rapidly consumed and absorbed into the blood, leading to a rise in blood sugar. It is followed by the GI scale, which goes from 0-100, assessing the amount of sugar in the blood after eating.

By eating refined foods such as white bread, rice, and fizzy drinks, blood sugar will spike rapidly.

The body also will quickly produce insulin, a hormone that breaks down sugar rapidly, leading to a 'crash' when the sugar is taken out of the blood. Due to high levels of insulin, there are quick "mood changes, fatigue and other symptoms of depression".

Still, women consuming more fibre, whole grains, vegetables and fruits (but not fruit juice) showed a lower risk of mental illness, according to the study. Most of human moods are due to continuous supply of energy from blood glucose to the brain.

By eating food that release energy slowly, the continuous supply of energy becomes balanced and stable.