MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- People
who eat vegetables, fruit and whole grains may have lower rates of
depression over time, according to a preliminary study released
today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's
70th Annual Meeting in Los
Angeles, April 21 to 27,
2018.
The study found that people whose diets adhered more closely to the
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet were less
likely to develop depression than people who did not closely follow
the diet. In addition to fruit and vegetables, the DASH diet
recommends fat-free or low-fat dairy products and limits foods that
are high in saturated fats and sugar. Studies have shown health
benefits such as lowering high blood pressure and bad cholesterol
(LDL), along with lowering body weight.
"Depression is common in older adults and more frequent in people
with memory problems, vascular risk factors such as high blood
pressure or high cholesterol, or people who have had a stroke,"
said study author Laurel Cherian,
MD, of Rush University Medical Center
in Chicago and a member of the
American Academy of Neurology. "Making a lifestyle change such as
changing your diet is often preferred over taking medications, so
we wanted to see if diet could be an effective way to reduce the
risk of depression."
For the study, 964 participants with an average age of 81 were
evaluated yearly for an average of six-and-a-half years. They were
monitored for symptoms of depression such as being bothered by
things that usually didn't affect them and feeling hopeless about
the future. They also filled out questionnaires about how often
they ate various foods, and the researchers looked at how closely
the participants' diets followed diets such as the DASH diet,
Mediterranean diet and the traditional Western diet.
Participants were divided into three groups based on how closely
they adhered to the diets. People in the two groups that followed
the DASH diet most closely were less likely to develop depression
than people in the group that did not follow the diet closely. The
odds of becoming depressed over time was 11 percent lower among the
top group of DASH adherers versus the lowest group. On the other
hand, the more closely people followed a Western diet—a diet that
is high in saturated fats and red meats and low in fruits and
vegetables—the more likely they were to develop depression.
Cherian noted that the study does not prove that the DASH diet
leads to a reduced risk of depression; it only shows an
association.
"Future studies are now needed to confirm these results and to
determine the best nutritional components of the DASH diet to
prevent depression later in life and to best help people keep their
brains healthy," said Cherian.
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SOURCE American Academy of Neurology