Abstract
Depression is a leading cause of disability, yet current prevention and treatment approaches have only had modest effects. It is important to better understand the role of dietary patterns on depressive symptoms, which may help prevent depression or complement current treatments. This study examined whether adherence to a Mediterranean diet (Med Diet), determined by the Alternate Med Diet score (aMED), was associated with depressive symptoms in a representative sample of U.S. adults. The aMED score (range 0–9) was calculated from a 24-h diet recall with gender-specific quartiles (Q) estimated. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to define depressive symptoms, which was dichotomized as no to mild (0–9) versus moderate to severe symptoms (10–27). Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between quartiles of aMED and depressive symptoms when controlling for sociodemographics, total calories, and the time of year of diet recall; 7.9% of the sample had moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Compared to individuals with the lowest aMED (Q1), individuals in Q3 and Q4 had 40% and 45% lower odds of moderate to severe depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50, 0.74; OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.84, respectively). This study provides modest support of Med Diet’s role in supporting positive mental health.
Highlights
This article is an open access articleIn 2019, 19.4 million adults or 7.8% of the United States (U.S.) adult population experienced a major depressive episode [1]
We evaluated the association between adherence to a Med Diet and depressive symptoms among a large representative sample of U.S adults
We found that greater adherence to a Med Diet was associated with 40–45% lower odds of moderate to severe depressive symptoms, which provides modest support for the diet’s role in mental health [18,31,32,33]
Summary
This article is an open access articleIn 2019, 19.4 million adults or 7.8% of the United States (U.S.) adult population experienced a major depressive episode [1]. To a largely plant-based dietary pattern may play an important role in mental health [8]. It is important to better understand diet’s role in depression onset and treatment. Lifestyle factors including diet can contribute to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction, oxidative stress, and inflammatory pathway activation that may promote the onset and chronicity of depression [10]. Essential fatty acids, including omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), play an important role in quelling brain inflammation and optimizing brain vascular health, both of which may be integral to maintaining mood [12]. Antioxidant nutrients including vitamins C and E, selenium and carotenoids (e.g., lutein, zeaxanthin, β-carotene) may play an important role in maintaining mental health and mood by counteracting oxidative stress [11,13]. Humans do not consume single nutrients, rather meals that contain a multitude of nutrient exposures
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