Depression is one of the most common mental health issues. It can cause a wide variety of symptoms with varying degrees of severity. One of the more common symptoms is listlessness and emotional apathy. People are energetic, unmotivated and find that they no longer enjoy things which used to make them happy. Depression is often caused by a combination of internal and external factors. Some foods in particular will often trigger symptoms of depression:

1. Processed meats
Processed foods are always tempting when we’re feeling down. Usually the more food is processed the less work we need to put into its preparation. This fits in quite well with some of the symptoms of clinical depression. People suffering from depression will often see cooking as an insurmountable obstacle. Unfortunately, eating heavily processed food can actually trigger symptoms of depression. This creates a cycle where one eats more processed food because of the depression. But the processed food itself makes the depression worse. And as a result people increase their intake of processed food even more. Processed foods, and especially meats, are typically lacking in major nutrients. What’s more it usually isn’t very filling. People are essentially eating up material that isn’t helping their body, and which might even hurt it, in order to reach a feeling of satiety.

2. Fried foods
Fried foods are dangerous for a similar reason. Food might start out as fairly healthy before it’s fried. But the frying process essentially shifts the ratio of healthy nutrients and empty calories. On top of that concern the trans-fats in fried food are especially bad for people’s cardiovascular system. Impaired blood flow doesn’t just lead to heart attacks. It can also lead to depression.

3. Refined cereals
People often assume that cereal is healthy. But in reality most cereal has more in common with dessert than a healthy main course. One serving of many cereals will provide nearly an entire day’s allotment of sugar. What’s more, the cereal’s heavy processing usually removes nutrients from its ingredients. The vitamins and minerals are often added in afterward as part of a fortification process. This means that eating cereal is often little different than eating a few tablespoons of sugar and then chasing it with a multivitamin. It’s easy to see why cereal doesn’t provide solid support for either physical or mental health. The phrase “as part of a balanced breakfast” is used heavily in cereal advertising in large part because it’s not healthy. The advertisements are basically saying that cereal is only healthy if you eat it as a side dish with actual healthy food. It can be an enjoyable treat. But trying to live on empty calories, even if fortified with nutritional additives, will often trigger depression.

4. Candy and pastries
These foods pose two significant risks for people with depression. The first is the danger we’ve already seen from empty calories. The second is tied in with that fact, but still distinct. This problem relates to what happens when someone eats a significant amount of empty calories over an extended period. Eating too many sweets will eventually lead to someone becoming overweight or even obese. This extra weight has been proven to trigger depression in a sizable percentage of the population.

5. High-fat dairy products
Most people are able to eat dairy without suffering any significant issues. However, a percentage of the population has trouble with the casein found in dairy products. Casein can cause inflammation in susceptible people. This inflammation can even extend to someone’s brain. This phenomenon has been linked to depression in susceptible people.