With an ever increasing number of obese adults in the west and throughout the westernized world, there is an associated increase in the numbers of adults (and children) with Type 2 diabetes. People are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes related to lack of exercise, unhealthy dietary choices, and excess weight or obesity.
Often occurring in association with Type 2 diabetes though not
4588 adults over the age of 18 were studied. Depression and diabetes statuses and usage of diabetes medications were determined via self-reported questionnaires. Fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels were also measured. Results were determined after controlling for the following factors: gender, age, marital status, education, race, “food insecurity level”, family income-to-poverty ratio, and serum C-reactive protein.
Diet types were categorizes by: healthy (i.e. Mediterranean-like diets), unhealthy (i.e. western diets), sweets, “Mexican-style”, and breakfast.
Important Findings:
- Patients consuming a “healthy diet” (i.e. Mediterranean-like) had a decreased risk of depression for those with and without diabetes.
- Patients with diabetes consuming a healthy diet showed the greatest reduction in depression risk.
- Those consuming a “sweets” diet were at high risk for both diabetes and depression concurrently.
The results of this study show that eating a healthy diet, similar to

the Mediterranean diet, reduces the risk of developing depression regardless of diabetes status. For those with diabetes already, eating a Mediterranean-like diet reduces the risk of developing depression symptoms concurrently. On the other hand, those eating a lot of sweets not only were at a high risk of developing diabetes, but were also at a high risk of developing depression symptoms at the same time.
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