The Mediterranean dietary pattern and depression risk: A systematic review

Relationship between Mediterranean diet and depressive symptoms

Seeking new psychiatric strategies for prevention and treatment, Altun et al. (2019) conducted a systematic review of the current evidence on the association between the Mediterranean diet and depressive symptoms. Twenty observational studies and six intervention trials found in the computer databases Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Scopus and Google Scholar were included. 85% of the observational studies and all six intervention trials supported the claim that the Mediterranean dietary pattern is inversely associated with incidence of depression. The lack of methodological disparity in the Mediterranean style diets studied restricted comparisons, but this was combatted by using specific criteria and performing compressive data appraisal. This review encourages global implementation of dietary changes in the treatment of depression, which could cut down costs and produce fewer side effects. It also acknowledges the need to define specifically what a Mediterranean diet entails, and the need for further research on this topic (clinical trials included). [NPID: Mediterranean diet, depression]

Year: 2019

Reference: Sánchez-Villegas, A., Martínez-González, M. A., Estruch, R., Salas-Salvadó, J., Corella, D., Covas, M. I., Arós, F., Romaguera, D., Gómez-Gracia, E., Lapetra, J., Pintó, X., Martínez, J. A., Lamuela-Raventós, R. M., Ros, E., Gea, A., Wärnberg, J., & Serra-Majem, L. (2013). Mediterranean dietary pattern and depression: the PREDIMED randomized trial. BMC medicine, 11, 208. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-208

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