Association between dietary energy density with mental health and sleep quality in women with overweight/obesity

Abstract

Objective: Mental health, sleep quality, and dietary intake are interlinked. Impairment of mental health and low sleep quality may contribute to obesity through the consumption of diets high in energy density. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether dietary energy density (DED) influences mental health. This study aimed to examine the association of DED with mental health indices, including depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep quality in women with overweight/ obesity. Results: There was a decreasing trajectory in serum triglyceride across quartiles of DED (from Q1 to Q4) in the crude analysis and also after adjustment for age, BMI, and physical activity After adjustment for age, BMI, and physical activity, subjects in the highest quartile of DED had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure. DED was significantly associated with increased odds of stress in the crude (OR = 2.15, 95% CI 1.01-4.56, p = 0.04) and adjusted model for age, BMI, and physical activity (OR = 2.56, 95% CI 1.13-5.79, p = 0.02). No significant relationship was observed between DED and depression, anxiety and sleep quality. In conclusion, current study shows preliminary evidence of an association between DED and stress.

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet, Alcohol Consumption and Emotional Eating in Spanish University Students

“…People with depressive symptoms show a tendency to consume “comfort food”, which means high-energy-dense foods, such as sweet high-fat foods [ 22 ]. In a previous study, a higher-energy-dense diet was related to a 2.56-fold increased risk of stress [ 23 ]. In addition, it was suggested that stressful situations such as home confinement due to COVID-19 can increase the risk of emotional eating [ 24 ].…”

Relations between Dietary Habits, Lifestyle and Leading Obesity

“…The brain treats high palatable foods that are energy-dense, especially high sugar and fat food as rewards. People under stress usually are attracted towards sugar and fat concentrated food to cope with negative emotions or confusing internal states of hunger and satiety with physiological changes associated with emotions, also called as the 'comfort food hypothesis' [6,23]. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) accompanied with elevated blood pressure is extremely common in patients with obesity, due to fat deposition around the upper respiratory airways, chest wall, and truncal fat, which leads to a decrease in the functional residual capacity [3,6].…”

“…Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) accompanied with elevated blood pressure is extremely common in patients with obesity, due to fat deposition around the upper respiratory airways, chest wall, and truncal fat, which leads to a decrease in the functional residual capacity [3,6]. Mechanistically, partial sleep modulates with hormones leading to increased serum ghrelin and reduced serum leptin, both of which result in elevated appetite [23].…”

The mediatory role of inflammatory markers on the relationship between dietary energy density and body composition among obese and overweight adult women: A cross‐sectional study

“…ED of all food intakes was calculated by dividing total daily energy (in kilocalories) to weight of foods (in grams) eaten in one day. 28,29 It ranges between 0 and 9 kcal/g for fat.…”