Abstract
BackgroundEpidemiological evidence on the relationships between intakes of different categories of vegetables and fruits and depressive symptoms is very limited and inconsistent, especially with no evidence from the general population. This study aimed to estimate their relationships among a large general population.MethodsThe cross-sectional design was based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2014) and included 16,925 adults. Dietary information was attained from two nonconsecutive 24-hr dietary recalls. Patient Health Questionnaire was applied for measuring depressive symptoms. The associations between vegetables and fruits intakes and depressive symptoms were appraised utilizing logistic regression and restricted cubic spline.ResultsCompared with the lowest category of intake, the most-adjusted odds ratios of depressive symptoms for the highest intake category of tomatoes and tomato mixtures were 0.81 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66–0.99), and 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48–0.85) for dark-green vegetables, 0.67 (95% CI, 0.53–0.84) for other vegetables, 0.48 (95% CI, 0.29–0.79) for berries, 0.67 (95% CI, 0.55–0.82) for total vegetables, and 0.70 (95% CI, 0.57–0.86) for total fruits, and for the medium categories of bananas and dried fruits were 0.62 (95% CI, 0.41–0.95) and 0.39 (95% CI, 0.19–0.81), respectively. After sensitivity analysis further excluding subjects with co-morbid health conditions, these findings remained significant, except for bananas. An L-shaped relationship was observed between depressive symptoms and intake of total vegetables, while the association was linear with total fruits intake.ConclusionsIntakes of tomatoes and tomato mixtures, dark-green vegetables, other vegetables, berries, dried fruits, total vegetables, and total fruits were inversely related to depressive symptoms among adults.
Highlights
As important constituents of diet, vegetable and fruit abound with dietary fiber, phytochemicals, magnesium, folate, vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, and other nutrients.[1]
Many epidemiologic studies have been carried out to explore the relationships of vegetable and fruit intakes with diseases, and results have indicated that intakes of vegetable and fruit were inversely associated with the risks of cardiovascular disease, total cancer,[2] all-cause mortality,[2,3] metabolic syndrome,[4] cognitive disorders,[5] inflammatory bowel disease,[6] and hypertension.[7]
Depressive symptoms were inclined to the obese individuals, smokers, younger, females, individuals with lower family income, less education level, lower recreational physical activity and work physical activity levels, lower total daily dietary energy, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke in this sample
Summary
As important constituents of diet, vegetable and fruit abound with dietary fiber, phytochemicals, magnesium, folate, vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, and other nutrients.[1] they may have a large number of health benefits. There is a persistent interest in evaluating the associations between vegetable and fruit intakes and depression.[9,10] the etiology of depression is not completely known, studies have shown that it is closely related to the activation of the inflammatory response system and oxidative stress.[11,12,13] Owing to the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics of vegetables and fruits,[14,15] they may play an important role in protecting against depression. Epidemiological evidence on the relationships between intakes of different categories of vegetables and fruits and depressive symptoms is very limited and inconsistent, especially with no evidence from the general population. This study aimed to estimate their relationships among a large general population
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