Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Dietary patterns and depressive symptoms among Japanese men and women

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 832–839 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

Although several studies have reported associations of depressive state with specific nutrients and foods, few studies examined the association with dietary patterns in adults. We investigated the association between major dietary patterns and depressive symptoms in Japanese.

Methods:

Subjects were 521 municipal employees (309 men and 212 women), aged 21–67 years, who participated in a health survey at the time of periodic checkup. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. Dietary patterns were derived by using principal component analysis of the consumption of 52 food and beverage items, which was assessed by a validated brief diet history questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios of depressive symptoms (CES-D ⩾16) with adjustment for potential confounding variables.

Results:

We identified three dietary patterns. A healthy Japanese dietary pattern characterized by high intakes of vegetables, fruit, mushrooms and soy products was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of having depressive symptoms for the lowest through highest tertiles of the healthy Japanese dietary pattern score were 1.00 (reference), 0.99 (0.62–1.59) and 0.44 (0.25–0.78), respectively (P for trend=0.006). Other dietary patterns were not appreciably associated with depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that a healthy Japanese dietary pattern may be related to decreased prevalence of depressive status.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akbaraly TN, Brunner EJ, Ferrie JE, Marmot MG, Kivimaki M, Singh-Manoux A (2009). Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age. Br J Psychiatry 195, 408–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bilici M, Efe H, Koroglu MA, Uydu HA, Bekaroglu M, Deger O (2001). Antioxidative enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in major depression: alterations by antidepressant treatments. J Affect Disord 64, 43–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bottiglieri T (2005). Homocysteine and folate metabolism in depression. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 29, 1103–1112.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doris A, Ebmeier K, Shajahan P (1999). Depressive illness. Lancet 354, 1369–1375.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbody S, Lightfoot T, Sheldon T (2007). Is low folate a risk factor for depression? A meta-analysis and exploration of heterogeneity. J Epidemiol Community Health 61, 631–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirose K, Matsuo K, Iwata H, Tajima K (2007). Dietary patterns and the risk of breast cancer in Japanese women. Cancer Sci 98, 1431–1438.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hu FB (2002). Dietary pattern analysis: a new direction in nutritional epidemiology. Curr Opin Lipidol 13, 3–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jacka FN, Pasco JA, Henry MJ, Kotowicz MA, Nicholson GC, Berk M (2004). Dietary omega-3 fatty acids and depression in a community sample. Nutr Neurosci 7, 101–106.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jorde R, Sneve M, Figenschau Y, Svartberg J, Waterloo K (2008). Effects of vitamin D supplementation on symptoms of depression in overweight and obese subjects: randomized double blind trial. J Intern Med 264, 599–609.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim MK, Sasaki S, Sasazuki S, Tsugane S (2004). Prospective study of three major dietary patterns and risk of gastric cancer in Japan. Int J Cancer 110, 435–442.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lansdowne AT, Provost SC (1998). Vitamin D3 enhances mood in healthy subjects during winter. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 135, 319–323.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez ME, Marshall JR, Sechrest L (1998). Invited commentary: factor analysis and the search for objectivity. Am J Epidemiol 148, 17–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Masaki M, Sugimori H, Nakamura K, Tadera M (2003). Dietary patterns and stomach cancer among middle-aged male workers in Tokyo. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 4, 61–66.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mikolajczyk RT, El Ansari W, Maxwell AE (2009). Food consumption frequency and perceived stress and depressive symptoms among students in three European countries. Nutr J 8, 31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Health L and and Welfare (2008). Vital Statistics of Japan (in Japanese). Health and Welfare Statistics Association: Tokyo.

  • Mizoue T, Yamaji T, Tabata S, Yamaguchi K, Shimizu E, Mineshita M et al. (2005). Dietary patterns and colorectal adenomas in Japanese men: the Self-Defense Forces Health Study. Am J Epidemiol 161, 338–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murakami K, Mizoue T, Sasaki S, Ohta M, Sato M, Matsushita Y et al. (2008). Dietary intake of folate, other B vitamins, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in relation to depressive symptoms in Japanese adults. Nutrition 24, 140–147.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nanri A, Yoshida D, Yamaji T, Mizoue T, Takayanagi R, Kono S (2008). Dietary patterns and C-reactive protein in Japanese men and women. Am J Clin Nutr 87, 1488–1496.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oddy WH, Robinson M, Ambrosini GL, O’Sullivan TA, de Klerk NH, Beilin LJ et al. (2009). The association between dietary patterns and mental health in early adolescence. Prev Med 49, 39–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okubo H, Sasaki S, Horiguchi H, Oguma E, Miyamoto K, Hosoi Y et al. (2006). Dietary patterns associated with bone mineral density in premenopausal Japanese farmwomen. Am J Clin Nutr 83, 1185–1192.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okubo H, Sasaki S, Murakami K, Kim MK, Takahashi Y, Hosoi Y et al. (2007). Three major dietary patterns are all independently related to the risk of obesity among 3760 Japanese women aged 18–20 years. Int J Obes (Lond) 32, 541–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff LS (1977). The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas 1, 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadakane A, Tsutsumi A, Gotoh T, Ishikawa S, Ojima T, Kario K et al. (2008). Dietary patterns and levels of blood pressure and serum lipids in a Japanese population. J Epidemiol 18, 58–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samieri C, Jutand MA, Feart C, Capuron L, Letenneur L, Barberger-Gateau P (2008). Dietary patterns derived by hybrid clustering method in older people: association with cognition, mood, and self-rated health. J Am Diet Assoc 108, 1461–1471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez-Villegas A, Delgado-Rodriguez M, Alonso A, Schlatter J, Lahortiga F, Majem LS et al. (2009). Association of the Mediterranean dietary pattern with the incidence of depression: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra/University of Navarra follow-up (SUN) cohort. Arch Gen Psychiatry 66, 1090–1098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S (2004). Development and evaluation of dietary assessment methods using biomarkers and diet history questionnaires for individuals (in Japanese). In: Tanaka H (ed). Research for Evaluation Methods of Nutrition and Dietary Lifestyle Programs Held on Healthy Japan 21. Summary Report. Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labour: Tokyo, pp 10–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Science and Technology Agency (2005a). Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, fatty acids section (in Japanese). 5th revised and enlarged ed. Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance: Tokyo.

  • Science and Technology Agency (2005b). Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan (in Japanese). 5th revised and enlarged ed. Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance: Tokyo.

  • Shibata H, Kumagai S, Watanabe S, Suzuki T (1999). Relationship of serum cholesterols and vitamin E to depressive status in the elderly. J Epidemiol 9, 261–267.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shima S, Shikano T, Kitamura T, Asai M (1985). New self-rating scale for depression (in Japanese). Jpn J Clin Psychiatry 27, 717–723.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shimazu T, Kuriyama S, Hozawa A, Ohmori K, Sato Y, Nakaya N et al. (2007). Dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease mortality in Japan: a prospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol 36, 600–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AP, Clark RE, Nutt DJ, Haller J, Hayward SG, Perry K (1999). Vitamin C, mood and cgnitive fuctioning in the elderly. Nutritinal Neuroscience 2, 249–256.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tanskanen A, Hibbeln JR, Tuomilehto J, Uutela A, Haukkala A, Viinamaki H et al. (2001). Fish consumption and depressive symptoms in the general population in Finland. Psychiatr Serv 52, 529–531.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tiemeier H, Hofman A, Kiliaan AJ, Meijer J, Breteler MM (2002). Vitamin E and depressive symptoms are not related. The Rotterdam Study. J Affect Disord 72, 79–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Timonen M, Horrobin D, Jokelainen J, Laitinen J, Herva A, Rasanen P (2004). Fish consumption and depression: the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort study. J Affect Disord 82, 447–452.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tolmunen T, Hintikka J, Ruusunen A, Voutilainen S, Tanskanen A, Valkonen VP et al. (2004). Dietary folate and the risk of depression in Finnish middle-aged men. A prospective follow-up study. Psychother Psychosom 73, 334–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada K, Tanaka K, Theriault G, Satoh T, Mimura M, Miyaoka H et al. (2007). Validity of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale as a screening instrument of major depressive disorder among Japanese workers. Am J Ind Med 50, 8–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Tamami Hatano, Akihiko Tanaka and Yuko Ejima (Kyushu University); Mio Ozawa (Fukuoka Women's University); and Akiko Hayashi and Kie Nagao (International Medical Center of Japan) for their help in data collection. This study was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)(21790598) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (to Dr Nanri) and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)(18590601) and (B)(21390213) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (to Dr Mizoue).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and International Health, International Clinical Research Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    A Nanri, Y Matsushita & T Mizoue

  2. Department of Nutrition and Life Science, Fukuyama University, Fukuyama, Japan

    Y Kimura

  3. Department of Health Development, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan

    M Ohta

  4. Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    M Sato

  5. Ikemi Memorial Clinic of Mind-Body Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan

    N Mishima

  6. Department of Social and Preventive Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    S Sasaki

Authors
  1. A Nanri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Y Kimura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Y Matsushita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M Ohta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M Sato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. N Mishima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S Sasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. T Mizoue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Nanri.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nanri, A., Kimura, Y., Matsushita, Y. et al. Dietary patterns and depressive symptoms among Japanese men and women. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 832–839 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.86

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.86

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links