Dietary vitamin E and fat intake are related to Beck's depression score

• There is a relationship between dietary factors and depression scores.
• Few epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between diet and depression outside the western world.
• There was an association between diet and depression score within a representative sample.
• Crude intake of MUFA, SFA and TFA in patients was associated with depression scores.
• There were significant correlations between depression and total energy adjusted intake of TFA, cholesterol, vitamin E.

SummaryObjectiveThere is a high prevalence of depressive disorders in all regions of the world. The importance of dietary factors in the causation of depression is suggested from epidemiologic studies in Western countries, but evidence from non-Western populations are lacking. We aimed to assess the relationship between dietary factors with depression scores in a cohort from north eastern Iran.MethodsA total of 7172 subjects (2725 men and 4447 women) were recruited. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall questionnaire, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck's depression questionnaire.ResultsThe age of the population samples were 49.3 ± 8.2 years for the male and 48.1 ± 8.0 years for the female subgroups. Crude intake of MUFA, SFA and TFA in patients was associated with depression scores. On the other hand, there were significant correlations between depression score and total energy adjusted intake of trans-fatty acid (TFA), cholesterol, vitamin E (p < 0.01 for all parameters).ConclusionThere was an association between diet and depression score among a representative sample of individuals from north eastern Iran, with MUFA intake being inversely related, and vitamin E intake being directly related to Beck's depression score. However it cannot be determined whether this is related to the causation of depression in this cross sectional study.