Does altering your diet reduce your risk of depression and are any dietary manipulations an effective treatment for depression?

Abstract

One of the areas of greatest public interest is whether altering your diet can reduce your risk of developing depression and whether there are any dietary manipulations that are effective treatments for depression? Many epidemiological studies have suggested associations between lower rates of depression and specific dietary types (e.g., Mediterranean, ‘anti-inflammatory’, Keto, low carbohydrate and Fish oil-rich) (Dietch et al., 2023). These epidemiological data are buttressed by post hoc analyses of several large-scale clinical trials with other primary outcomes – the PREDIMED study being an exemplar (Sánchez et al., 2013). In addition, the first generation of randomised controlled trials is now available suggesting that a healthier diet pattern especially the Mediterranean diet reduces the symptoms of depression in clinical populations (Jacka et al., 2017).