Earlier this summer, Portuguese researchers published a study in Frontiers in Nutrition showing a connection between meat consumption and depression levels.
The researchers studied over 10,000 adults over a 2-year period using telephone interviews, asking questions about diet, lifestyle, and health.
After analyzing the received data, researchers discovered two clusters of participants, based on what they ate and how frequently they ate.
The first cluster—what they called the “meat dietary pattern”—ate fewer meals than the second cluster. When they did eat, they were less likely than the second cluster to eat soup, vegetables, fresh fruit, fish, or milk/dairy products; they also drank less water. Finally, they ate meat more frequently than the second cluster did.
What they also found was that participants in the meat dietary pattern cluster were more likely to report depression symptoms.
This is one more study in a growing body of research showing a positive connection between what we eat and our mental health.