title: Diet, a new target to prevent depression?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research on the role of diet in the prevention of depression is scarce. Some evidence suggests that depression shares common mechanisms with cardiovascular disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Before considering the role of diet in the prevention of depression, several points need to be considered. First, in general, evidence has been found for the effects of isolated nutrients or foods, and not for dietary patterns. Second, most previous studies have a cross-sectional design. Third, information is generally collected though questionnaires, increasing the risk of misclassification bias. Fourth, adequate control of confounding factors in observational studies is mandatory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only a few cohort studies have analyzed the relationship between overall dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, and primary prevention of depression. They have found similar results to those obtained for the role of this dietary pattern in cardiovascular disease. To confirm the findings obtained in these initial cohort studies, we need further observational longitudinal studies with improved methodology, as well as large randomized primary prevention trials, with interventions based on changes in the overall food pattern, that include participants at high risk of mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Deparment of Clinical Sciences, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, PO Box 550, CP 35080, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. asanchez@dcc.ulpgc.es
authors.forename: Almudena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Villegas
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martínez-González
mesh_terms: D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans