An Increase in Mediterranean Dietary Score, Through SunGold® Kiwifruit, Potentially Improves Mental Wellbeing

Abstract

Objectives Research suggests that high adherence to Mediterranean dietary pattern significantly improve depression and anxiety symptoms. Thus, the objective was to utilize the novel and validated Mediterranean Diet Serving Score (MDSS) method to assess habitual intake of a study cohort, which evaluated SunGold® kiwifruit and psyllium powder interventions, against the Mediterranean diet recommendations. The link between the MDSS and mental wellbeing were then explored. Methods The project's data was collected during the randomized cross-over controlled trial Christchurch Irritable Bowel Syndrome cohort to investigate mechanisms for gut relief and improved transit - Psyllium and Kiwifruit translation study (COMFORT-PSYKI). Participants were randomized into two interventions: psyllium powder or SunGold® kiwifruit. MDSS was evaluated from dietary records with the recommended serving sizes obtained from the New Zealand Food Composition Database. Depression and anxiety score were collected through the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) survey. Results The habitual diet of the participants (n = 45, mean age 39 ± 15 years) had a low MDSS (mean 5.04 ± 2.38, out of 24 points) when compared against the Mediterranean pyramid recommendations. Their MDSS improved with daily consumption of two SunGold® kiwifruit significantly (mean 6.27 ± 2.81, P-value < 0.05) compared to Psyllium powder (mean 5.58 ± 3.05, P-value = 0.906). Moreover, mean depression (42.33 ± 6.08, P-value) and anxiety (43.24 ± 7.71) scores were reported lower with the higher MDSS of SunGold® intervention at 42.33 ± 6.08 (P-value = 0.315) and 43.24 ± 7.71 (P-value = 0.906), respectively. Conclusions This project suggests that consuming two SunGold® kiwifruit daily could significantly enhance participants’ habitual diet to meet the Mediterranean diet recommendations and healthy eating guideline. This improvement could potentially lead to a reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms. The feasibility of the novel MDSS method was also demonstrated to be suitable for dietary pattern assessment among adult New Zealanders. Future investigations are warranted to confirm the association between dietary pattern and mental wellbeing. Funding Sources This project was funded by Zespri International Limited (Zespri) and Callaghan Innovation R&D Experience Grant.