The Mediterranean Diet May Reduce Depression.

In one study, researchers analyzed the effect of the Mediterranean Diet Plan (MDP) on depression in 10,094 healthy Spanish individuals during a mean follow-up of 4.4 years (Arch Gen Psychiatry 66:1090). After adjustment for confounders, MDP adherence (especially for fruits and nuts, fatty-acid ratio, and legumes) was associated negatively with new incidence of depression and positively with improved glucose metabolism. Similarly, researchers prospectively assessed the relation between self-reported depression and dietary pattern (either “whole food” [highlighting vegetables, fruit s, and fish] or “processed food” [emphasizing sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products]).

Of 3468 London-based office workers, those with high whole-food intake were less likely, and those with high processed-food intake were more likely, to report depression (Br J Psychiatry 95:408). This finding held even after adjustment for multiple variables, including exercise; a secondary analysis showed that diet affected depression and not the reverse.

This diet is also associated with significant improvements in cardiac risk factors. It also reduces the risk of elevated blood glucose, which is more common in people with depression, and may worsen depression.