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DASH diet lowers risk for depression in older adults
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Older patients who followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet, were less likely to develop depression, according to a preliminary study that will be presented at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.
“Nonpharmacologic strategies to reduce depression, such as diet, may be effective, however, few studies have investigated the relation,” Laurel Cherian, MD, assistant professor, department of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and colleagues wrote in an abstract.
Researchers evaluated the diets and depression assessments of 964 patients (mean age, 81.32 years). Their food intake scores were modeled in tertiles and determined by utilizing a validated food frequency survey for the Western, prudent, Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND), Mediterranean, and DASH diets. Patients with four or more depressive symptoms from the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale were diagnosed with depression.
Cherian and colleagues found that after an average of 6.53 years, patients in the 2nd (P = .0319) and 3rd (P = 0.0061) tertiles of the DASH diet had lower depression rates vs. patients in first tertile (P = .004). Of the other diets studied, researchers noted that the Western diet was positively linked to depression over time (P = .0346).
“A diet intervention trial may be needed to determine the optimal nutritional components for prevention of late onset depression and optimization of brain health,” Cherain and colleagues wrote. – by Janel Miller
Reference: Cherian L, et al. “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet associated with lower rates of depression.” Presented at: American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. April 21-27, 2018; Los Angeles.
Disclosure: Healio Family Medicine was unable to determine researchers’ relevant disclosures prior to publication.