Micronutrients and Mental Health (Adult Population)

Bakian et al. (2020) examined the association between dietary creatine and depression in U.S. adults, using the data on dietary creatine intakes and patient health questionnaires obtained by the 2005 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on its 22,692 participants (aged ≥20 years). This study compared the depression prevalence in the subjects in the lowest quartile of dietary creatine intake (rate of 10.23/100) to the occurrence in those in the highest quartile of creatine consumption (5.98/100 persons). While an inverse association was confirmed between dietary creatine and depression [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.68], the strongest correlations were seen in females (AOR = 0.62) and participants not taking antidepressant/anxiolytic medication (AOR = 0.58). These results highlighted a significant negative relationship between creatine intake and depression in a nationally representative cohort. This leaves the role that creatine plays in depression among women and across the lifespan to be investigated in the future.