Eating Refined Carbohydrates Increases Depression Risk in Post-Menopausal Women

Consumption of carbohydrates increases the blood sugar levels to varying degrees, depending on the type of food ingested. Glycemic index (GI) is a scale that measures the amount of sugar found in the blood after eating in a scale of 0-100. The more highly refined the carbohydrate, the higher is its score on the glycemic index (GI). Eating food high in refined carbohydrates such as white bread and white rice, may cause or exacerbate mood changes, fatigue and other symptoms of depression in post-menopausal women, suggested a new study. The study findings suggest that greater consumption of dietary fiber, whole grains, vegetables and fresh fruits is associated with decreased depression risk. The research by James Gangwisch, and colleages from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in New York analyzed data from more than 70,000 postmenopausal women who participated in the US National Institutes of Health's Women's Health Initiative Observational Study between 1994 and 1998.

The study appeared in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source-IANS