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Association between the Japanese‐style diet and low prevalence of depressive symptoms: Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study
The traditional Japanese diet, which includes fish, soy, and green tea, has been linked to improved mental health. However, the evidence connecting Japanese dietary patterns to depressive symptoms remains mixed, particularly when predefined diet patterns are considered. To investigate the relationship between conventional and modified Japanese diets and depression symptoms in a large working adult population, Miyake et al. (2025) developed specific scoring systems for each. A validated food frequency survey was used to evaluate dietary patterns. There were two diet scores created: one for the traditional Japanese diet, which included foods like white rice, miso soup, soy products, and green tea, and another for a modified version that added fruits, raw vegetables, and dairy while penalizing the consumption of salty foods and substituting whole or minimally processed rice for white rice. Depression symptoms were evaluated using the 11-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D); values of 9 or above indicated symptoms. Out of 12,499 participants (76.8% response rate), 30.9% reported depressive symptoms. Higher adherence to both the traditional and modified Japanese diets was linked to significantly lower prevalence of depressive symptoms. Prevalence ratios (PRs) for depressive symptoms decreased progressively across higher quartiles of diet scores, with the strongest reductions observed in the highest adherence groups. In a working population, greater adherence to both conventional and modified Japanese dietary patterns is linked to fewer symptoms of depression. [NPID: Japanese diet, depressive symptoms, dietary patterns, working population, food frequency questionnaire, soy products, green tea]
Year: 2025
