Could the bout of the blues you're dealing with possibly be linked to the pasta you had for last night's dinner? According to new research, absolutely.

While the importance of consuming wholesome, unprocessed foods has almost become common knowledge in recent years, the average American's diet is still predominantly (70%) made up of processed junk. A number of factors are to blame for this (finances, emotional cravings, physiological addiction, etc…), but it's a less-than-stellar habit that needs to be curbed, for the SAD diet is contributing to a number of diseases of affluence.

According to a recent study conducted by Columbia University and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there is a clear link between consumption of refined carbohydrates and sugar and depression. The researchers stated that "any influence that refined carbohydrates has on mood could be commensurate (corresponding in size or degree) with their proportion in the overall diet." 

The researchers came to these conclusions by factoring in the glycemic index (GI), which runs from 0-100 and measures the amount of sugar in the blood after eating. Highly refined carbohydrates rank higher on the GI scale – and glycemic load, as well as overall carbohydrate and sugar intake.