Mediterranean Diet Helps Mental Health

by | Nov 10, 2009 | 2009, Brain Health, Depression, Mediterranean Diet

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. This study of 10,000 patients reveals that those with the highest adherence to the Mediterranean Diet had a 31% reduced risk of major depression.  

A new study (1) has found that adhering to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) may also help with mental health.  Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44 (2), affecting nearly 15 million American adults each year, which is nearly 7 percent of the U.S. population aged 18 and older (3).  Major depressive disorder is a significant contributor to the $83 billion cost of depression to our healthcare system each year (4).

In the study, more than 10,000 patients participating in the SUN Study (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) (5) provided data on their food intake using a 132-item food questionnaire (6) and then were followed up for 4 years. The researchers graded each patient’s food intake on a scale (7) from 0 (least adherence to the Mediterranean Diet) to 9 (most adherence to the Mediterranean Diet).

The researchers found that, compared to those with the lowest adherence to the MD, those with the highest adherence had a 31% reduced risk of major depression.  When looking at specific food groups, the highest intakes of fruits and nuts gave the highest reduction in risk (39% reduced risk) while the highest intakes of meat products produced the biggest increase in risk (35% increased risk).  High intakes of legumes and a higher ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fat produced a 24% reduced risk of major depressive disorder.

For the researchers, “Our results suggest a potential protective role of the [Mediterranean Diet] with regard to the prevention of depressive disorders.”

Source: Sánchez-Villegas, Almudena, et al. “Association of the Mediterranean dietary pattern with the incidence of depression: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra/University of Navarra follow-up (SUN) cohort.” Archives of General Psychiatry 66.10 (2009): 1090-1098.

©2009 American Medical Association.

Posted November 10, 2009.

References:

  1. Sanchez-Villegas A.  Association of the Mediterranean Dietary Pattern With the Incidence of Depression: The Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra/University of Navarra Follow-up (SUN) Cohort.  Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66(10):1090-1098.
  2. The World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2004: Changing History, Annex Table 3: Burden of disease in DALYs by cause, sex, and mortality stratum in WHO regions, estimates for 2002. Geneva: WHO, 2004.
  3. Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.
  4. Greenberg, P.E., et al., The economic burden of depression in the United States: how did it change between 1990 and 2000? J Clin Psychiatry, 2003. 64(12): p. 1465-75.
  5. Martínez-González MA, Sanchez-Villegas A, De Irala J, Marti A, Martínez JA. Mediterranean diet and stroke: objectives and design of the SUN project (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra). Nutr Neurosci. 2002;5(1):65-73.
  6. Martin-Moreno JM, Boyle P, Gorgojo L, Maisonneuve P, Fernandez-Rodriguez JC, Salvini S, Willett WC. Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire in Spain. Int J Epidemiol. 1993;22(3):512-519.
  7. Trichopoulou A, Costacou T, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. N Engl J Med. 2003;348(26):2599-2608.