Using data from twin studies conducted over many years, scientists have discovered a link between levels of depression and the amount of fruit and vegetables people eat daily.
New research, led by the Center for Healthy Brain Aging (CHeBA) at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, has looked at the association between fruit and vegetable intake and symptoms of depression in twins aged over 45.
“Twins share 50-100% of their genetic inheritance and, if they are raised together, they share the same family environment”, began explaining researcher Karen Mather, cited by . “One of the advantages of these studies is that they can help address unwanted factors, such as early-life socioeconomic status, that influence outcomes.”
Although evidence is growing about the effect diet has on mental health, few studies have focused specifically on how fruit and vegetable intake affects depression in people over 45.
Even fewer studies have taken advantage of the opportunity that twins offer to reduce the influence of genetic and environmental variables.
In this study, scientists examined the association between initial fruit and vegetable intake and depressive symptoms in 3,483 twins over the age of 45. The results showed that a high fruit and vegetable intake was associated with lower depressive symptoms over time compared to a low intake.
Moderate intake of vegetables, but not fruit, was also associated with lower depressive symptoms compared to low intakes.
“The findings present another argument for increasing fruit and vegetable intake in adults over 45 years of age”, highlighted researcher Annabel Matison.
Still, in this study, the “high” fruit and vegetable intake (2.1 servings per day) was still well below the dietary recommendations in most countries, which made the researchers think about what kind of results they would have if the people were eating the recommended daily intake.
Regarding the effect that fruits and vegetables have on depression, the team suggests that it is, in part, linked to the microbiome.
The was recently published in Scientific Reports.
