Association between Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Depression Symptoms in Young People and Adults Aged 15–45: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies

Abstract

Higher consumption of fruit and vegetables has been associated with a lower risk of various chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, obesity, and certain cancers. Recently, fruit and vegetable intake has also been linked with mental health, including depression; however, this area is largely unexplored studies in young people and adults. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the association between fruit and vegetable intake and depressive symptoms in young people and adults aged 15–45. The review used a predefined protocol registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database (ID no: CRD42018091642). The systematic review focused on peer-reviewed cohort studies published from 1 January 2000 to 31 August 2020 using searches of six electronic databases. The exposure was fruit and vegetable consumption analysed both separately and/or together, and the outcome was depression or depressive symptoms. Data from eligible studies were extracted according to predefined criteria and the studies were appraised using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) for cohort studies to evaluate for study quality and risk of bias. A total of 12 studies from seven countries were deemed eligible and included in the qualitative synthesis, one study was categorised as “very good” quality, nine studies were “good” quality, and two studies were “moderate” quality by the quality assessment based on the total score for the NOS. The majority of cohort studies support the evidence that fruit consumption is associated with decreased risk of developing depression. However, the inconsistent results were observed when the effects of vegetable consumption were analysed independently, and the effects of fruit and vegetables combined were analysed. Despite this, the evidence seems to be building that a possible association exists, and this may have implications for addressing the burden of mental illness in young people and adults aged 15–45 years. More well-designed prospective cohort studies are needed to provide more robust evidence on the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and depression.

Early Life Influences on the Development of Food Addiction in College Attending Young Adults

“…The worsening of mental health was another reason for the emergence of symptoms, which aligns with depression being a signi cant predictor in the quantitative results. Depression and anxiety are shown to be correlated with poorer diet quality [43,54] as well as overweight and obesity [55]. These ndings contribute to research on these topics, but also show that depression can cause the more severe outcome of food addiction, when combined with other in uences.…”

Frequency of fruit consumption and savoury snacking predict psychological health; selective mediation via cognitive failures

“…health, social and economic) at a population level. The positive relationship between FVI and psychological health has been consistently reported in the literature (57,58) ; however, few studies have analysed FVI separately (59,60) , and even fewer have compared frequency and portions (quantity) (10) . The current results provide further nuance by revealing that the frequency with which fruit is consumed, but not the portions consumed during a typical week, negatively predicted depression and positively predicted psychological wellbeing, after including covariates.…”

The Association between Dietary Habits, Substance Use, and Mental Distress among Adults in Southern Norway: A Cross-Sectional Study among 28,047 Adults from the General Population

“…A systematic review concluded that despite limitations resulting from the use of various methodologies in different population groups, the consumption of fruits and/or vegetables seems to have a positive influence on mental health [ 30 ]. Another recently published systematic review of cohort studies, however, reported that there is inconclusive evidence on the effect fruits and vegetables have on reducing the odds of developing depression and depressive symptoms [ 31 ]. An explanation for the possible positive effects of fruit, berries, and vegetables on mental health is the high content of polyphenols and antioxidants, which have been suggested to reduce oxidative stress and thereby have an alleviative effect on depressive symptoms [ 32 , 33 ].…”