Trans Fats Hinder, Olive Oil Benefits Mental Health

by | Mar 29, 2012 | 2011, Brain Health, Depression, Olive & Monosaturated, Trans Fats

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A 10 year study of 12,059 depression free patients found that those with the highest 20 % intake of trans fatty acids had a 48% increased risk of depression compared to those with the lowest 20% of Vitamin D intake. 

Depression affects about 151 million people worldwide (1) and is the leading cause of medical disability for people worldwide age 15-44, according to the World Health Organization (2). The estimated cost of depression in the United States is at least $83 billion per year (3).

In spite of the high prevalence of mental disorders, little research has looked at the relationship between nutrition and depressive disorders (4,5). Now a new study (6) suggests that trans unsaturated fatty acids (TFA) may increase the risk of depression, while olive oil may result in a decreased risk.

In the study, 12,059 patients free of depression with an average age of 37.5 years participated in a study between 1999 and 2010. The study was modeled after the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (7). Participants completed a 136-item food frequency questionnaire (8) to estimate their intake of fatty acids (saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, trans unsaturated fatty acids (TFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids like olive oil). The patients attended follow-up exams every two years, where their diet was assessed. They also were examined for any onset of depression.

The researchers found a direct connection between TFA intake and depression.  Specifically, those with the highest 20% of TFA  intake (0.6% of total fat intake) had a 48% increased risk of depression compared to those with the lowest 20% of intake (0.2% of total fat intake).  When they looked at olive oil intake and depression, a benefit was seen, but it was labeled “a weak inverse relationship” by the researchers due to an elevated amount of statistical error (p = 0.06).  Specifically, those with the highest 20% of intake of olive oil (more than 28 grams per day) had a 20% reduced risk of depression compared to those with the lowest 20% of intake (less than 2.8 grams per day).

The researchers suggested that the role of TFA in depression lies in its ability to increase LDL cholesterol, reduce HDL cholesterol and increase inflammation (9,10) while the high levels of antioxidants called polyphenols in olive oil  help decrease inflammation (11) and help minimize cell damage from oxidation (12).

For the researchers, “our results showed a protection of cardioprotective fats [like olive oil] and a detrimental effect of TFA on depression risk.”

Source: Sanchez-Villegas A, Verberne L, De Irala J, Ru ́ız-Canela M, Toledo E, et al. (2011) Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Depression: The SUN Project. PLoS ONE 6(1): e16268. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016268

Copyright: ß 2011 Sa ́nchez-Villegas et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted March 29, 2012.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at http://www.PitchingDoc.com

Reference:

  1. World Health Organization (WHO) (2008) The global burden of disease 2004 update. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
  2. “Soaring Economic Costs From Depression A Global Issue” –  see the National Institutes of Health website.
  3. Greenberg PE.  The economic burden of depression in the United States: how did it change between 1990 and 2000? J Clin Psychiatry 2003 Dec;64(12):1465-75.
  4. Freeman MP. Nutrition and Psychiatry Am J Psychiatry 2010; 167: 244–247.
  5. Soh N, Walter G, Baur L, Collins C. Nutrition, mood and behavior: a review. Acta Neuropsychiatrica 2009; 21: 214–227.
  6. Sanchez-Villegas A.  Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Depression: The SUN Project.  PloS One 2011; 6 (1): e16268 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016268.
  7. Hu FB, Willett WC (2002) Optimal diets for prevention of coronary heart disease. JAMA 288: 2569–2578.
  8. Fernández-Ballart JD, et al.  Relative validity of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire in an elderly Mediterranean population of Spain. Br J Nutr 2010; 103: 1808–1816.
  9. Mozaffarian D, Aro A, Willett WC (2009) Health effects of trans-fatty acids: experimental and observational evidence. Eur J Clin Nutr 63: Suppl 25–21S.
  10. Uauy R, Aro A, Clarke R, Ghafoorunissa, L’Abbe MR, et al. (2009) WHO Scientific Update on trans fatty acids: summary and conclusions. Eur J Clin Nutr 63: Suppl 268–75S.
  11. Waterman E.  Active components and clinical applications of olive oil. Altern Med Rev 2007; 12: 331–342.
  12. Di Benedetto R.  Tyrosol, the major extra virgin olive oil compound, restored intracellular antioxidant defences in spite of its weak antioxidative effectiveness. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2007; 17: 535–545.