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Dietary flavonoid intake and risk of incident depression in midlife and older women
The aim of this study was to examine the associations between regular intake of dietary flavonoids with depression risk. Chang et al. (2016) studied 82,643 adult women without a previous history of depression at baseline in this study (depression was defined as physician- or clinician-diagnosed depression or antidepressant use). A total of 10,752 cases of depression were registered during the 10 year follow-up. The study revealed that flavonoids, including flavonol, flavone, and flavanone, were inversely associated with depression risk. In flavonoid-rich food-based analyses, the HR was 0.82 among participants who consumed ≥2 servings citrus fruit or juices/d compared with <1 serving/wk. When looking at one of the studies used in particular [Nurses’ Health Study (NHS)], total flavonoids, polymers, and proanthocyanidin intakes indicated a significantly (9-12%) lower risk of depression. In examining the older NHS participants (aged ≥65 y at baseline or during follow-up), greater consumption of all flavonoids, with the exception of flavan-3-ols, was linked with significantly lower depression risk, with flavones and proanthocyanidins showing the strongest associations. Although further studies are required to support these associations, it could be deduced that higher flavonoid inclusion in the diet may be associated with lower depression risk, especially among older women. [NPID: dietary flavonoids, depression, flavonoids, fruit, polymers, women, elderly women]
Year: 2016
