Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
ResearchResearch and Professional BriefsFruit, Vegetable, and Antioxidant Intakes Are Lower in Older Adults with Depression
Section snippets
Design
This case-control study occurred within a larger longitudinal clinical examination of depression in older adults (NeuroCognitive Outcomes of Depression in the Elderly).17 Nutrition-related data were collected between 1999 and 2007.
Sample
All participants who completed a nutrition questionnaire were included in the study, and were blinded to any focus on antioxidants, although they had been informed that relationships between diet and depression would be examined. This sample included patients who met
Results and Discussion
This sample of older adults included a total of 144 participants with depression and 134 comparison participants after the exclusion of 12 participants (n=9 for missing covariate data, n=3 for energy intakes <500 kcal). The comparison group was older (t276= −2.39; P=0.0175), included more women (χ21=8.26; P=0.0040), had more years of education (t276= −3.63; P=0.0003), a lower comorbidity score (t276=5.03; P<0.0001), and lower BMI (t276=4.21; P<0.0001) than the depression group (Table 1). In
Conclusions
Intakes of fruits, vegetables, and naturally occurring antioxidants, specifically vitamin C and beta cryptoxanthin, were found to be inversely associated with depression in this sample of elderly patients with depression and comparison participants, although no association was found with antioxidant supplements. These results may indicate that components of fruits and vegetables, including specific antioxidants, are important for mental health. Antioxidants from dietary supplements may not
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the participants of this research project for their dedication to furthering knowledge of late-life depression. The authors also thank Cortnee W. Pierce for help with subject recruitment, Robert Rybczynski for assistance with nutrition assessment, and Andrew Shiloh for help with data management.
M. E. Payne is an associate professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC.
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M. E. Payne is an associate professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC.
S. E. Steck is an associate professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
R. R. George is a research analyst, South Carolina Central Cancer Registry, Columbia; at the time of the study, she was a graduate student, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
D. C. Steffens is a professor and chairman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, Farmington; at the time of the study, he was a professor and vice chair of education, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC.
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This project was funded by National Institutes of Health grants nos. MH60451, MH54846, MH70027, and HD043446, as well as an NARSAD (National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression [now the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation]) Young Investigator Award. This work was presented as part of the American Society for Nutrition program at Experimental Biology 2011 in Washington, DC.