Applied nutritional investigationDietary intake of minerals in relation to depressive symptoms in Japanese employees: The Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study

- In this study, we investigated the association between dietary intake of minerals and depressive symptoms among Japanese employees.
- Higher intakes of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc were each found to be associated with a lower prevalence of depressive status.
- The associations remained statistically significant after adjustment for potential dietary and non-dietary confounders.

ObjectiveAlthough intake of minerals has been suggested to be beneficial against depression, epidemiologic data from free-living settings are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the cross-sectional associations between the intake of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Japanese employees.MethodsParticipants were 1792 men and 214 women ages 19 to 69 y. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated, brief self-administered diet history questionnaire. Participants with depressive symptoms were defined as those with a scale score of ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.ResultsThe prevalence of depressive symptoms was 27.8%. Intakes of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc were inversely associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms. The multivariate adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of having depressive symptoms were 0.63 (0.44-0.91), 0.64 (0.47-0.88), 0.59 (0.40-0.87), and 0.63 (0.45-0.87) in the highest versus lowest tertiles of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc, respectively.ConclusionResults suggest that higher dietary intake of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc is associated with lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in Japanese employees.