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. 2009 Nov;195(5):408-13.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.058925.

Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age

Tasnime N Akbaraly  1 , Eric J Brunner, Jane E Ferrie, Michael G Marmot, Mika Kivimaki, Archana Singh-Manoux
Affiliations

Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age

Tasnime N Akbaraly et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Studies of diet and depression have focused primarily on individual nutrients.

Aims: To examine the association between dietary patterns and depression using an overall diet approach.

Method: Analyses were carried on data from 3486 participants (26.2% women, mean age 55.6 years) from the Whitehall II prospective cohort, in which two dietary patterns were identified: 'whole food' (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish) and 'processed food' (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products). Self-reported depression was assessed 5 years later using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression (CES-D) scale.

Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in the highest tertile of the whole food pattern had lower odds of CES-D depression (OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.56-0.99) than those in the lowest tertile. In contrast, high consumption of processed food was associated with an increased odds of CES-D depression (OR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.11-2.23).

Conclusions: In middle-aged participants, a processed food dietary pattern is a risk factor for CES-D depression 5 years later, whereas a whole food pattern is protective.

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