Your New Year’s resolutions for 2013 may include eating more fruits and vegetables after learning about new findings from research by NARSAD Young Investigator Grantee Martha E. Payne, Ph.D., R.D., M.P.H. Dr. Payne, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Duke University, and her research team looked at antioxidant, fruit and vegetable intake of 278 adults aged 60 years or older, about half of whom were diagnosed with clinical depression. The study showed that Vitamin C, lutein and beta cryptoxanthin intakes were lower and related fruit and vegetable consumption was lower among subjects with depression.  

Not only do these findings suggest improved treatment options through dietary changes for patients with depression but they also show potential to lower cardiovascular disease risk in patients with depression. The study did not suggest the addition of nutritional supplements; it concludes that increased consumption of naturally-occurring antioxidants is important for mental health, especially to help prevent late-life depression.

The study, “Fruit, Vegetable, and Antioxidant Intakes Are Lower in Older Adults with Depression,” was published December 1, 2012 in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association.

Read more about this study in Foodconsumer.org