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
. 2025 Aug;21(8):e70560.
doi: 10.1002/alz.70560.

The role of diet in moderating the relationship between symptoms of depression and brain amyloid load

Hilal Salim Said Al Shamsi  1 , Samantha L Gardener  1   2   3 , Stephanie R Rainey-Smith  1   2   3   4   5 , Hamid R Sohrabi  1   2   4   6 , Kevin Taddei  1   2 , Colin L Masters  7 , Vincent Doré  7   8 , Christopher Rowe  8   9 , W M A D Binosha Fernando  1   2 , Ralph N Martins  1   2   4   6 ; AIBL Research Group
Affiliations

The role of diet in moderating the relationship between symptoms of depression and brain amyloid load

Hilal Salim Said Al Shamsi et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Healthy lifestyle factors, including diet, may affect brain amyloid beta (Aβ) load. This study examines dietary patterns as moderators of the relationships among symptoms of depression, anxiety, and brain Aβ load.

Method: A cross-sectional study of cognitively unimpaired older adults (n = 524) from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers, and Lifestyle study assessed dietary patterns, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and brain Aβ load. Moderation and simple slope analyses were conducted.

Results: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet moderated the relationship between depressive and anxiety symptoms and brain Aβ load. Higher symptoms were associated with greater Aβ load in individuals with lower DASH adherence. This effect was also observed for anxiety symptoms in apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers. The Mediterranean and Western diets did not moderate these relationships.

Conclusion: The DASH diet adherence may mitigate the impact of depressive and anxiety symptoms on brain Aβ load, supporting genotype-specific dietary interventions in mental and brain health.

Highlights: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet moderates the links among depression, anxiety, and brain amyloid load. Higher symptoms were linked to greater amyloid load in those with low DASH adherence. This effect was observed for anxiety symptoms in apolipoprotein E ε4 allele carriers. Mediterranean and Western diets did not moderate these relationships. Findings support genotype-specific dietary interventions for brain and mental health.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; amyloid beta; anxiety; depression; dietary patterns.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this work. The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers, and Lifestyle (AIBL) study has received partial financial support from various funding sources, including government and non‐government organizations, as outlined in the funding section. Some authors are affiliated with institutions that have received research funding from industry partners; however, none of these relationships influenced the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation. All authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript and declare no competing interests. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Simple slopes graph of the relationship between symptoms of depression and brain Aβ at levels of DASH diet adherence. Each line represents the association between symptoms of depression and brain Aβ when all datapoints are at either the mean, or 1 SD above, or below, the mean DASH diet adherence. There were no significant associations between symptoms of depression and brain Aβ at 1 SD above the mean and mean DASH diet adherence levels (β = −0.734, SE = 0.960, p = 0.445; β = 1.293, SE = 0.681, p = 0.058, respectively). At 1 SD below mean DASH diet adherence, greater depressive symptoms were associated with greater brain Aβ (β = 3.321, SE = 0.943, p < 0.001). Model includes APOE ε4 allele carrier status (±), age, country of birth, and sex as main effects. Aβ, amyloid beta; APOE, apolipoprotein E; DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; SD, standard deviation; SE, standard error.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Simple slopes graph of the relationship between symptoms of anxiety and brain Aβ at levels of DASH diet adherence in APOE ɛ4 allele carriers. Each line represents the association between symptoms of anxiety and brain Aβ when all data points are at either the mean, or 1 SD above, or below, the mean DASH diet adherence. In APOE ɛ4 allele carriers, there were no significant associations between symptoms of anxiety and brain Aβ at 1 SD above mean and mean DASH diet adherence levels (β = −1.787, SE = 1.684, p = 0.291; β = 1.543, SE = 1.199, p = 0.235, respectively). At 1 SD below mean DASH diet adherence, greater anxiety symptoms were associated with greater brain Aβ (β = 4.465, SE = 1.655, p = 0.006). The model includes age, country of birth, and sex as main effects. Aβ, amyloid beta; APOE, apolipoprotein E; DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; SD, standard deviation; SE, standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gallagher D, Kiss A, Lanctot K, Herrmann N. Depression and risk of Alzheimer dementia: a longitudinal analysis to determine predictors of increased risk among older adults with depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018;26(8):819‐827. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ma L, Tan ECK, Bush AI, et al., Elucidating the link between anxiety/depression and Alzheimer's dementia in the Australian imaging biomarkers and lifestyle (AIBL) study. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2024; 14(3):1130‐1141. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lim YY, Pietrzak RH, Ellis KA, et al., Rapid decline in episodic memory in healthy older adults with high amyloid‐β. J. Alzheimer's Disease. 2013;33(3):675‐679. - PubMed
    1. Zubenko GS, Zubenko WN, McPherson S, et al., A collaborative study of the emergence and clinical features of the major depressive syndrome of Alzheimer's disease. Am J Psychiatry. 2003;160(5):857‐866. - PubMed
    1. Migliorelli R, Tesón A, Sabe L, et al., Prevalence and correlates of dysthymia and major depression among patients with Alzheimer's disease. Am J Psychiatry. 1995;152:37‐44. - PubMed