Dietary Factors, Time of the Week, Physical Fitness and Saliva Cortisol: Their Modulatory Effect on Mental Distress and Mood

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of diet quality and physical fitness on saliva cortisol, mood, and mental distress. These relationships were compared between a peak weekday (Wednesday) and a weekend day (Saturday) when mood may fluctuate. Methods: Forty-eight healthy college students participated in the study. Participants completed the Mood and Anxiety Symptom (MASQ) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale 10 questionnaires on Wednesday and Saturday and recorded their diet for three days. Saliva was collected before and after a workout for cortisol extraction. Results: SA had significantly higher saliva cortisol levels post-workout but lower MASQ scores on Saturday (p < 0.05). There was a very significant association between MASQ scores on Wednesday (p = 0.005), which became less significant on Saturday. In addition, lower BMI values and high-fat consumption were associated with higher cortisol levels after exercise (p < 0.05). Conclusions: There is a strong link between dietary factors, cortisol levels, mood, and time of the week. In addition, our results suggest that saliva cortisol levels may not be directly linked to negative affect but are influenced by diet quality when mental distress exists. In addition, physical fitness may play a role in improving mood during weekends.

Immersive Virtual Reality and its Influence on Physiological Parameters in Healthy People

“…Jacks et al [20] add some qualifiers to these results, as in their study it was only participants who exercised at a high intensity who significantly increased post-exercise salivary cortisol levels, and not those who exercised at a low or moderate intensity. Similar results were found by Begdache et al [59], who pointed out that cortisol level can be a gauge of workout intensity, since in their study, with a sample of 48 healthy college students made up of 23 athletes and 25 non-athletes who performed a cycling session at a minimum of 65% of age-adjusted maximal heart rate, the cortisol level increased only in the athletes. As the authors themselves suggest, this could be because the athletes performed the activity at a higher intensity than the non-athletes.…”

“…However, with their study using a cycloergometer intervention, Jacks et al [20] found that with a workout of less than 40 min there were no modifications in post-exercise cortisol levels. Other previously noted work carried out interventions that included VR+cycling of 12 [51], 20 [32], 50 [31] or 60 [59] min. This disparity in intervention durations and outcomes calls for protocols to be put in place, and for further research, not only to see to what degree duration affects physiological parameters, but also to analyze what type of exergame could be more effective in inducing changes to physiological markers.…”

Realidad virtual inmersiva y su influencia en parámetros fisiológicos de personas sanas (Immersive virtual reality and its influence on physiological parameters in healthy people)

“…Jacks et al (2002) add some qualifiers to these results, as in their study it was only participants who exercised at a high intensity who significantly increased post-exercise salivary cortisol levels, and not those who exercised at a low or moderate intensity. Similar results were found by Begdache et al (2022), who pointed out that cortisol level can be a gauge of workout intensity, since in their study, with a sample of 48 healthy college students made up of 23 athletes and 25 non-athletes who performed a cycling session at a minimum of 65% of age-adjusted maximal heart rate, the cortisol level increased only in the athletes. As the authors themselves suggest, this could be because the athletes performed the activity at a higher intensity than the non-athletes.…”

“…However, with their study using a cycloergometer intervention, Jacks et al (2002) found that with a workout of less than 40 min there were no modifications in post-exercise cortisol levels. Other previously noted work carried out interventions that included VR+cycling of 12 (Saiz-González et al, 2023), 20 (Jacks et al, 2002), 50 (Borg, 1982) or 60 (Begdache et al, 2022) min. This disparity in intervention durations and outcomes calls for protocols to be put in place, and for further research, not only to see to what degree duration affects physiological parameters, but also to analyze what type of exergame could be more effective in inducing changes to physiological markers.…”

The relationship between worker-occupation fit and cortisol concentration of hair and plasma among medical workers

“…CF represents individual attributes that are challenging to change, including personal character habits, values and physical quality. Previous research has shown that cortisol levels are in uenced by individual personality characteristics [48,49] and physical health [50,51], which helps explain the relationship between CF and hair cortisol concentration. Additionally, previous studies have demonstrated a negative correlation between t levels and burnout [52] and turnover contemplation [53], and a positive correlation with job satisfaction [54].…”