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With the acceleration of life pace and increasing stress, people’s anxiety and negative emotions may pop out from time to time.
Everyone may have different ways to deal with emo, some people like to eat sweets, some like to sleep, and some may like chatting and watching videos…
How do you like to relieve “emo”? Today, Healthy Extracts is here to share some possible lifestyle factors related to depression↓↓
Food addiction makes you unable to resist
For those who love sweets, “there is no worry that a cup of milk tea, a piece of cake, an ice cream… cannot solve. If there is, then add more.”
But can sweets really relieve our negative emotions?
In fact, these sweets contain refined sugars (rice, flour, white sugar, rock sugar, brown sugar, honey, malt syrup, glucose syrup, corn syrup, fruit grape syrup, etc.), consuming them will quickly raise our blood sugar, leading to excessive insulin secretion, which can result in a lack of neurotransmitters related to happiness (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine).
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In other words, eating sweets doesn’t make us happier. Then why do we feel satisfied after eating sweets?
A study published in the Annual Review of Nutrition pointed out that these high-calorie sweets not only tantalize our taste buds but also enhance our cravings. They make us “compulsively” consume them unconsciously, similar to how addictive drugs interfere with the brain’s motivation and reward-seeking mechanisms (happiness).
If we often consume sweets, the strength and speed of reward signals in the brain will be enhanced. Overconsumption of these ultra-processed foods will make us want to eat more and more (addictive behavior).
Researchers found similar patterns of neural activity in brain scans between drug addicts and individuals diagnosed with food addiction.
The harm of these sweets goes beyond this. Professor Ashley N. Gearhardt from the University of Michigan pointed out, “Ultra-processed foods have always been a key factor in the increase of global obesity, diet-related diseases, and poor health conditions.”
Furthermore, a study published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology indicated that the consumption of sugary beverages (containing calorie-sweetened agents such as sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, concentrated fruit juice, and starch sugar) is associated with various diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gout, cancer, etc.
The mentioned sweets are one of the ultra-processed foods. Other foods that are addictive and harmful to health include: soft drinks, sweetened beverages, chocolates, candies, instant noodles, bread, chips, cookies, pizza, flavored yogurt, hamburgers, instant noodles, sausages, etc.
Be cautious of developing depression from frequent social media use
In the rapidly evolving internet era, social media has broken the boundaries of communication and interaction. Not only does it make connections between people more convenient, but it also brings various emotions.
A study published in JAMA Network Open found that the use of social media may be associated with higher scores of depression symptoms.
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In this study, researchers analyzed data from 5,395 adults aged 18 and above. These individuals did not have depression initially (PHQ-9 depression screening scale initial scores were below 5).
After a period of using a certain photo-sharing app, a large social media platform, and a short video platform (survey conducted between May 2020 and May 2021), researchers found that 482 individuals (8.9%) showed an increase in scores during the second screening (indicating mild depression).
Specifically, behaviors using these three apps were associated with a 53%, 42%, and 39% increased risk of self-reported depression respectively; even after excluding other social factors, the conclusions remained stable. Further analysis showed that the association between social media use and depression is related to age.
It is important to note that this study’s data may contain some errors—such as unaccounted social media content or the fact that the group participating in the second survey only represented a portion of the total.
The psychological motivations, behavior, and emotional experiences behind social media use are quite complex. It is advisable for everyone to use social media reasonably and sensibly.
Indulging in delicious food, laziness, and sleeping late may invite depression
Do you have such a habit: snack while watching a drama, play until the early hours of the morning, then enjoy a lazy sleep feeling like all negative moods have disappeared?
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However, if you adopt unhealthy eating patterns in the long term (high-fat diet, refined carbohydrate diet, and high-salt diet), it will not only lead to mitochondrial dysfunction but also make you gain weight. Mitochondrial dysfunction and obesity are related to the occurrence and development of depression.
A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry pointed out that long-term high-sugar high-fat diet and lack of physical activity can lead to excessive abdominal fat growth, insulin resistance, not only increasing the incidence of cardiovascular metabolic diseases such as diabetes but also being associated with the occurrence and development of depression.
The study clearly indicated that for every 5 cm increase in abdominal fat, the rate of depression incidence increases by 11%; for every 1 mmol/L increase in fasting blood sugar level, the risk of depression incidence increases by 37%.
Staying up late has become a “norm” for people, especially when they are not in a good mood.
A considerable amount of research shows that staying up late is detrimental to health. Staying up late makes people mentally fatigued, damages the skin and liver, and increases the risk of heart disease and cancer for those who stay up late frequently. Although many people know that staying up late is unhealthy, it is difficult to change this unhealthy habit.
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry indicated that habitual “night owls” (average sleep time is 3 a.m.) have twice the likelihood of developing depression compared to habitual early birds, regardless of how long they sleep. However, for every hour of sleep earlier, the risk of severe depression decreases by 23%.
In other words, if a person who normally goes to bed at 1 a.m. changes to midnight and sleeps the same duration, they can reduce the risk of depression by 23%, and if this person goes to bed at 11 p.m., they can reduce the risk of depression by 40%.
This may be because early birds may be exposed to more sunlight, resulting in a series of hormonal and emotional effects; whereas a disrupted circadian rhythm can lead to depression. Increasingly, more research supports the notion that a disrupted circadian rhythm may be one of the causes of depression.
In summary: these three bad habits of eating sweets, using social media excessively, and staying up late may provide a short-term sense of “stress relief” but may be associated with an increased risk of depression in the long run.
It is advisable to change these bad habits early on and adopt healthier stress relief methods (such as eating healthy and delicious natural foods, singing, exercising, and maintaining a regular schedule) to promote better physical and mental health!
Additionally, you may also want to read:
What are the symptoms of depression?
What types of exercises can reduce the risk of depression?
Is depression preventable?
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References
[2] Malik, V. S., & Hu, F. B. (2022). The role of sugar-sweetened beverages in the global epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 1-14.
[3] Gearhardt, A. N., & Schulte, E. M. (2021). Is Food Addictive? A Review of the Science.Annual Review of Nutrition, 41.
[4] Watson, K. T. et al（2021）. Incident Major Depressive Disorder Predicted by Three Measures of Insulin Resistance: A Dutch Cohort Study. Am. J. Psychiatry appi.ajp. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.20101479.
[5] Daghlas I, Lane JM, et al（2021）,. Sleep Timing, and Risk of Major Depressive Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.0959
Disclaimer: The PharmaInfo Content Team focuses on introducing global biomedical health research developments. This article is for informational purposes only, the viewpoints in the article do not represent the position of PharmaInfo, nor does it indicate PharmaInfo’s support or opposition to the viewpoints in the article. This article is not a recommendation for treatment. For treatment guidance, please visit a reputable hospital.
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