No abstract

The association between added sugars or sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and the risk of depression, as well as the role of carbohydrate quality in depression risk, remains unclear. Among 15 546 Spanish university graduates from the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) prospective cohort study, diet was assessed with a validated 136-item semi-quantitative FFQ at baseline and at 10-year follow-up. Cumulative average consumption of added sugars, sweetened drinks and an overall carbohydrate quality index (CQI) were calculated. A better CQI was associated with higher whole-grain consumption and fibre intake and lower glycaemic index and consumption of solid (instead of liquid) carbohydrates. Clinical diagnoses of depression during follow-up were classified as incident cases. Multivariable time-dependent Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) of depression according to consumption of added sugars, sweetened drinks and CQI. We observed 769 incident cases of depression. Participants in the highest quartile of added sugars consumption showed a significant increment in the risk of depression (HR=1·35; 95 % CI 1·09, 1·67, P=0·034), whereas those in the highest quartile of CQI (upper quartile of the CQI) showed a relative risk reduction of 30 % compared with those in the lowest quartile of the CQI (HR=0·70; 95 % CI 0·56, 0·88). No significant association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and depression risk was found. Higher added sugars and lower quality of carbohydrate consumption were associated with depression risk in the SUN Cohort. Further studies are necessary to confirm the reported results.

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between adherence to different Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet indices and the risk of depression. Design: In a prospective study we assessed 14 051 participants of a dynamic (permanently ongoing recruitment) prospective cohort (the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project), initially free of depression. At baseline, a validated FFQ was used to assess adherence to four previously proposed DASH indices (Dixon, Mellen, Fung and Günther). To define the outcome we applied two definitions of depression: a less conservative definition including only self-reported physician-diagnosed depression (410 incident cases) and a more conservative definition that required both clinical diagnosis of depression and use of antidepressants (113 incident cases). Cox regression and restricted cubic splines analyses were performed. Results: After a median follow-up period of 8 years, the multiple-adjusted model showed an inverse association with the Fung DASH score (hazard ratio (HR) = 0·76; 95 % CI 0·61, 0·94) when we used the less conservative definition of depression, and also under the more conservative definition (HR = 0·63; 95 % CI 0·41, 0·95). We observed a weak inverse association with the Mellen DASH score, but no statistically significant association was found for the other definitions. The restricted cubic splines analyses suggested that these associations were nonlinear (U-shaped). Conclusions: Moderate adherence to the DASH diet as operationalized by Fung and Mellen was related to lower depression risk. Since these associations were non-linear, additional prospective studies are required before the results can be generalized and clinical recommendations can be given.

Background: Lifestyles are involved in the pathogenesis of depression and many of these factors can be modified for the potential prevention of depression. Our aim was to assess the association between a healthy-lifestyle score, that includes some less-studied lifestyle indicators, and the risk of depression. Methods: We followed 14,908 participants initially free of any history of depression in the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) cohort. Information was collected biennially from 1999 to December 2016. We calculated a healthy-lifestyle score (0-10 points), previously associated with cardioprotection, by giving one point to each of the following components: never smoking, physical activity (> 20 METs-h/ week), Mediterranean diet adherence (! 4 points), healthy body mass index (22 kg/m 2), moderate alcohol consumption (women 0.1-5 g/d; men 0.1-10 g/d of ethanol), avoidance of binge drinking (never more than 5 alcoholic drinks in a row), low television exposure (2 h/d), short afternoon nap (30 min/ day), time spent with friends (>1 h/d) and working at least 40 h/week. Results: During a median follow-up of 10.4 years, we observed 774 new cases of major depression among participants initially free of depression. The highest category (8-10 factors) showed a significant inverse association with a 32% relative risk reduction for depression compared to the lowest category (0-3 factors) (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio: 0.68; 95% CI:0.49-0.95) (p for trend = 0.010). Conclusions: Adopting a healthy-lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of incident depression in the SUN cohort. This index, including ten simple healthy lifestyle habits, may be useful for a more integrative approach to depression prevention.