An over-reliance on fast food is the quickest way to gain weight, especially fat around your stomach. But new research suggests that eating too many takeaways and processed convenience foods has dire consequences for your brain as well as your belly, by causing sustained inflammation that’s linked to many mental health disorders, including depression. A new meta-analysis of 11 studies examining more than 100,000 people between the ages of 16 and 72, carried out at Manchester Metropolitan University and published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, found a significant link between inflammation caused by junk food diets and depression, whereas an “anti-inflammatory” diet – based on vegetables, wholegrains and lean, unprocessed meat – resulted in a lower incidence of mental health problems.
55% British men are eating 55% more calories than they think, averaging 3,200 per day and not the 2,065 they believe, according to the Office for National Statistics. That’s the equivalent of eating three large portions of fries every day