The following is a summary of “Relationship between dietary lipophilic index and load with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms,” published in the September 2023 issue of Psychiatry by Barzegaran et al.
Dietary fatty acids may affect brain health by changing cell membrane fluidity. Lipophilic index (LI) and load (LL) may also be related to cell membrane fluidity. Researchers started a retrospective study investigating the link between dietary fatty acids and depression, anxiety, and stress.
They utilized data from the YaHS (Yazd Health Study) population-based cohort. Various questionnaires, including a 178-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 (DASS 21), and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), were employed to gather details on dietary intake, mental status, and physical activity. LI and LL were determined by considering dietary intake and the melting point of each fatty acid.
The results showed 2,982 individuals. In the second tertile of dietary LI compared to the first tertile, the odds ratio for depression was 0.815 (95% CI 0.66–1.00, P=0.051, Ptrend = 0.017), which further decreased to 0.793 after adjusting for confounders (95% CI 0.63–0.99, P=0.043, Ptrend = 0.011). LL showed an inverse relationship with anxiety (OR 0.771, 95% CI 0.63–0.93, P=0.003), which remained significant (OR 0.762, 95% CI 0.53–1.07, P=0.045) after multiple regression. The odds of stress in the third tertile of LL were 1.064, but this association was not statistically significant (95% CI 0.88–1.28, P=0.729).
They concluded that dietary lipophilic index was inversely associated with depression symptoms but not anxiety or stress.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-05161-5
