Diet, Depression, and Anxiety (Adult Population)

This 2022 review analyzed a collection of research articles that used dietary interventions as a treatment for depression among adult populations. No funding was provided for this review. Firstly there was a systematic search conducted on several databases to find studies treating adults with depression using either whole food or whole diet interventions. The studies were then assessed for quality using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Quality Criteria Checklist. Seven studies met the eligibility criteria, composed of 49,156 participants in total. All seven of these studies reported improvement of depressive outcomes following dietary intervention. The effect size, which calculates the strength of the relationship between the dietary intervention and depressive outcome, varied from small to very large. The data generated and reviewed was limited by the inconsistency in some of these research papers. Nevertheless, the overall findings indicate that eating fresh produce, wholegrains, low-fat dairy, and foods with lean protein is beneficial in depression. In addition, positive results were observed for reducing the intake of processed and high-fat foods.