Eating junk food will deplete B vitamins--leading to fatigue and depression

Eating junk food will deplete B vitamins–leading to fatigue and depression

A cross-sectional study appearing in Psychosomatic Medicine (October 2010 72:763-768 Published online before print August 17, 2010); it looked at the dietary intake of B vitamins and its relationship to the incidence of depressive symptoms in 6,517 subjects between the ages of 12 and 15. Dietary intake was assessed by using a diet history questionnaire. Subjects were determined to have depressive symptoms it they had a score greater than 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 22.5% for boys and 31.2% for girls. Intake of dietary folic acid and vitamin B6 were both inversely associated with depressive symptoms. Riboflavin (B2) intake was inversely associated with depressive symptoms in girls, but not in boys. Increasing B vitamins in the diet may help reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms in early adolescence.

B vitamins are found in whole foods. Whole grains are rich in B complex and fresh meat, poultry and fish are rich in vitamin B12. Folic Acid is found in leafy green vegetables. Eating a refined diet with a lot of sugar, white flour products (white bread, noodles etc.) and white rice, deplete B vitamins. Many people who eat a lot of junk foods (like many adolescents), are tired and depressed much of the time.