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The consumption of foods high in trans fats and saturated fats increases the risk of depression, according to a Spanish study published in the U.S. Wednesday, confirming previous studies linking junk food with the disease.

The researchers also showed that some products such as olive oil, which is high in healthy omega fatty acids-9, it can combat the risk of mental illness.

The authors of the comprehensive study of the Universities of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, followed and analyzed the diet and lifestyle of more than 12,000 volunteers in over six years.

When the study began, none of the participants had been diagnosed with depression at the end, 657 of them were victimized.

"Participants with a high consumption of trans fats (fats artificially in industrial production pastries and fast food ... ) Presented an increase of 48 percent in the risk of depression when compared to participants who do not consume these fats, "said principal study author.

Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, also noted that the event "more trans fats are consumed, the greater the adverse effect they have on the volunteers."

The research team found, at the same time, after assessing the impact of polyunsaturated fats - made up of large quantities of fish and vegetable oils - and olive oil, these products "are associated with a lower risk of Depression. "

The report, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, noted the study was conducted in a European population has a relatively low consumption of trans fats - ". Total energy consumed by the volunteers "who make up only 0.4 percent

"However, there was an increased risk of depression of almost 50 percent," said lead researcher Miguel Martínez.

"On this basis we derive the importance of taking into account this effect in countries like the U.S., where the percentage of energy from these fats is about 2.5 percent."

The report said the actual number of people suffering from depression in the world is around 150 million people, and has increased in recent years.

This increase is due, according to the authors, the radical changes in the sources of fat intake in Western diets, where we replaced certain kinds of beneficial fats - polyunsaturated and monounsaturated nuts, vegetable oils and fish - the saturated fatty acids and trans fats found in meat, butter and other products such as cakes and mass-produced fast food. "

Although not a focus of the study, the researchers noted that fatal cardiovascular disease is "likely to have a similar diet, and may share similar mechanisms in their origin."