Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Depression: A Systematic Review of Recent Studies

Abstract

Depression is a leading cause of disability that affects approximately 280 million people across the globe. This systematic review intends to report the latest cohort and cross-sectional studies, randomized control trials, and meta-analysis published in the past decade that investigates the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) and risk of depression or perceived well-being. The inclusion of both observational and experimental designs from recent studies has allowed this review to synthesize the results reached from different experimental designs. This review identifies MD as a promising subject for investigation in future studies, which is necessary to determine whether components of MD work at reducing symptoms of depression singularly or in aggregate.