Associations of cMIND Diet with depressive and anxiety symptoms among old people in China: a nationwide study.

Purpose: The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet is a novel dietary approach that exhibits neuroprotective benefits. Studies have found that the MIND diet can effectively reduce the risk of depression and anxiety, but the relationship between them is unclear among older Chinese people. The objective of this research was to explore the association of the MIND diet with depression and anxiety among elderly Chinese individuals.

Methods: The study data were obtained from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), and logistic regression models were developed to explore the relationship between the Chinese version of MIND (cMIND) diet and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Restricted Cubic Spline (RCS) was used to determine whether a linear relationship exists between cMIND diet and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were further used to test for interactions and robustness of results.

Results: The study included 6,945 Chinese seniors aged 65 and above, and the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms were 49.68% and 10.89%, respectively. The cMIND diet score had a significant protective effect on both depressive and anxiety symptoms when used as a continuous or categorical variable. The RCS analysis revealed a statistically significant linear relationship between the cMIND diet and both depressive (p < 0.05) and anxiety symptoms (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Among the Chinese elderly population, the cMIND diet can significantly reduce the probability of developing depressive and anxiety symptoms. Therefore, this study's results may promote healthy eating habits among the elderly.