Mediterranean Diet May Aid Mental Health in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, July 23, 2024 -- Greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with lower odds of depression in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study published online July 5 in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition.
Liya Ma, from Honghui Hospital at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, and colleagues explored the association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Analysis included 1,148 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (aged ≥20 years), for whom 24-hour dietary recall interview data were available.
The researchers found that 25.26 percent of participants had depression. In adjusted analysis, high adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with the lower odds of depression (odds ratio, 0.53). Higher consumption of vegetables (odds ratio, 0.54) and cereals (odds ratio, 0.63) drove this decrease in the odds of depression.
"In conclusion, we found that greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with the lower odds of depression in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Thus, our results provide evidence that greater adherence to Mediterranean diet may improve mental health in adults," the authors write. "To elucidate whether true causal associations exist between diet and depression, further more rigorous cohort studies are needed."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted July 2024
Read this next
Addictive Screen Use Tied to Suicidal Behaviors in Early Adolescence
FRIDAY, June 27, 2025 -- Both high and increasing addictive screen use trajectories are associated with suicidal behaviors and worse mental health in early adolescence, according...
Paternal Mental Distress Linked to Poorer Offspring Development
WEDNESDAY, June 25, 2025 -- Paternal mental distress is associated with poorer child development, according to a study published online June 16 in JAMA Pediatrics. Genevieve Le...
Self-Esteem Scores Soar One Year After Metabolic, Bariatric Surgery
TUESDAY, June 24, 2025 -- Self-esteem scores increase after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS), with greater improvement in scores for those with higher postoperative weight...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.