Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr;33(4):1033-1040.
doi: 10.1007/s40520-020-01608-x. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with better cognitive status and less depressive symptoms in a Greek elderly population

Maria Mantzorou  1 , Konstantinos Vadikolias  2 , Eleni Pavlidou  3 , Christina Tryfonos  3 , Georgios Vasios  3 , Aspasia Serdari  4 , Constantinos Giaginis  5
Affiliations

Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with better cognitive status and less depressive symptoms in a Greek elderly population

Maria Mantzorou et al. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence of an elderly Greek population, and its association with the grade of cognitive decline and psychological status.

Methods: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Mediterranean diet score (MedDietScore) questionnaires were used to assess the impact of MD adherence on cognitive abilities and psychological state of a Greek elderly population.

Participants: 2092 men and women over 65 years old (mean age 74.97 ± 8.41 years) from seven different Greek cities RESULTS: 34.4% of the study population showed cognitive impairment, while 32.3% of the participants had depressive symptoms. More than half of the participants (52.1%) showed very low or low MD adherence. Higher MD adherence was significantly associated with better MMSE and GDS scores. Moreover, higher MD adherence was significantly associated with younger age, female gender, higher educational level, and better anthropometric parameters. MD adherence was independently associated with cognitive and psychological status, and gender after adjustment for potential confounders.

Conclusion: Higher MD adherence is strongly associated with better cognitive status and less depressive symptomatology. Public health policies are recommended to focus on the promotion of the MD, as a crucial strategy to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and depression.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Depression; Elderly; Mediterranean diet; Public health.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Gotsis E, Anagnostis P, Mariolis A et al (2015) Health benefits of the Mediterranean diet: an update of research over the last 5 years. Angiology 66:304–318 - PubMed
    1. Trichopoulou A, Naska A, Orfanos P et al (2005) Mediterranean diet in relation to body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio: the Greek European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study. Am J Clin Nutr 82:935–940 - PubMed
    1. Dinu M, Pagliai G, Sofi F (2017) A heart-healthy diet: recent insights and practical recommendations. Curr Cardiol Rep 19:95 - PubMed
    1. Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G (2015) Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of cancer: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Cancer Med 4:1933–1947 - PubMed - PMC
    1. Esposito K, Giugliano D (2014) Mediterranean diet and type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 30:34–40 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources