Dietary zinc is associated with a lower incidence of depression: Findings from two Australian cohorts
Abstract
Background Several animal and human studies have shown that zinc plays a role in reducing depression, but there have been no longitudinal studies in both men and women on this topic. The aim of this study was to investigate dietary zinc, and the zinc to iron ratio, as predictors of incident depression in two large longitudinal studies of mid-age and older Australians.Methods Data were self-reported, as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women׳s Health (women aged 50-61 years) and Hunter Community Study (men and women aged 55-85 years). Validated food frequency questionnaires were used to assess dietary intake. Energy-adjusted zinc was ranked using quintiles and predictors of incident depression were examined using multivariate logistic regression.Results Both studies showed an inverse association between dietary zinc intake and risk of depression, even after adjusting for potential confounders. Compared to those with the lowest zinc intake those with the highest zinc intake had significantly lower odds of developing depression with a reduction of about 30-50%. There was no association between the zinc to iron ratio and developing depression in either study.Limitations Dietary assessment was carried out only at baseline and although adjustments were made for all known potential confounders, residual confounding cannot be entirely excluded.Conclusions Low dietary zinc intake is associated with a greater incidence of depression in both men and women, as shown in two prospective cohorts. Further studies into the precise role of zinc compared to other important nutrients from the diet are needed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Observational studies show an association between low zinc dietary intake or low zinc status and depression in adults or elderly subjects.
“Observational studies show an association between low zinc dietary intake or low zinc status and depression in adults or elderly subjects [189,190,191].”
From Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [190]
Cites
The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population
Radloff, L. S. (1977) · Applied Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/014662167700100306 · Cited by 53,267 · see citing works
Assessing depressive symptoms in five psychiatric populations: a validation study.
Weissman, M., Sholomskas, D., Pottenger, M., Prusoff, B., & Locke, B. Z. (1977) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112455 · Cited by 2,232 · see citing works
Beekman, A. T. F., Deeg, D. J. H., van Limbeek, J., Braam, A. W., VRIES, M. Z. D., & van Tilburg, W. (1997) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291796003510 · Cited by 1,135 · see citing works
The Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol
Brussen, K. A. (2010) · Chisholm Health Ethics Bulletin · Cited by 1,083 · see citing works
THE USE OF A SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE TO ASSESS DIET FOUR YEARS IN THE PAST
Willett, W. C., SAMPSON, L., Browne, M. L., Stampfer, M. J., ROSNER, B. A., Hennekens, C. H., & Speizer, F. E. (1988) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114780 · Cited by 801 · see citing works
Lai, J. S., Hiles, S., Bisquera, A., Hure, A. J., McEvoy, M., & Attia, J. (2014) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.069880 · Cited by 786 · see citing works
Self-citationCohort Profile: the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.
Lee, C., Dobson, A., Brown, W., Bryson, L., Byles, J., Warner-Smith, P., & Young, A. (2005) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyi098 · Cited by 675 · see citing works
Self-citationHodge, A. M., Patterson, A. J., Brown, W. J., Ireland, P. D., & Giles, G. G. (2000) · Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1111/j.1467-842x.2000.tb00520.x · Cited by 632 · see citing works
Women's Health Australia: recruitment for a national longitudinal cohort study.
Brown, W., Bryson, L., Byles, J., Dobson, A., Lee, C., Mishra, G., & Schofield, M. (1999) · Women & health · doi:10.1300/j013v28n01_03 · Cited by 577 · see citing works
Self-citationIreland, P. D., Jolley, D., Giles, G. G., O’Dea, K., Powles, J. W., Rutishauser, I. H. E., Wahlqvist, M. L., & Williams, J. W. (1994) · PubMed · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Iron and zinc interactions in humans
Whittaker, P. (1998) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/68.2.442s · Cited by 305 · see citing works
Competitive Interaction of Iron and Zinc in the Diet: Consequences for Human Nutrition
Solomons, N. W. (1986) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/116.6.927 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Chemical parameters in the study of in vivo and in vitro interactions of transition elements.
Hill, C., & Matrone, G. (1970) · PubMed · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Validity and reproducibility of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire in older people
Smith, W. T., Mitchell, P., Reay, E. M., Webb, K., & Harvey, P. W. (1998) · Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1111/j.1467-842x.1998.tb01414.x · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Wv, M. (1962) · PubMed · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Insight into zinc signaling from dietary zinc deficiency
Takeda, A., & Tamano, H. (2009) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2009.09.003 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Rosa, A. O., Lin, J. H. X., Calixto, J. Β., Santos, A. R. S., & Rodrigues, A. L. S. (2003) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0166-4328(03)00069-x · Cited by 183 · see citing works
The role of zinc in neurodegenerative inflammatory pathways in depression
Szewczyk, B., Kubera, M., & Nowak, G. (2011) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.02.010 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Lai, J. S., Moxey, A. J., Nowak, G., Vashum, K. P., Bailey, K. A., & McEvoy, M. (2011) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2011.06.022 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Self-citationAntidepressant-like properties of zinc in rodent forced swim test
Kroczka, B., Brański, P., Pałucha-Poniewiera, A., Pilc, A., & Nowak, G. (2001) · Brain Research Bulletin · doi:10.1016/s0361-9230(01)00473-7 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Szewczyk, B., Poleszak, E., Sowa-Kućma, M., Siwek, M., Dudek, D., Ryszewska-Pokraśniewicz, B., Radziwoń-Zaleska, M., Opoka, W., Czekaj, J., Pilc, A., et al. (2008) · PubMed · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Nutrient intakes and the common mental disorders in women
Jacka, F. N., Maes, M., Pasco, J. A., Williams, L. J., & Berk, M. (2012) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.02.018 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
The involvement of serotonergic system in the antidepressant effect of zinc in the forced swim test
Szewczyk, B., Poleszak, E., Właź, P., Wróbel, A., Blicharska, E., Cichy, A., Dybała, M., Siwek, A., Pomierny-Chamioło, L., Piotrowska, A., et al. (2008) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2008.12.011 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Antidepressant-like activity of zinc: further behavioral and molecular evidence
Sowa-Kućma, M., Legutko, B., Szewczyk, B., Novák, K., Znojek, P., Poleszak, E., Papp, M., Pilc, A., & Nowak, G. (2008) · Journal of Neural Transmission · doi:10.1007/s00702-008-0115-7 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Amani, R., Saeidi, S., Nazari, Z., & Nematpour, S. (2009) · Biological Trace Element Research · doi:10.1007/s12011-009-8572-x · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Cohort Profile: The Hunter Community Study
McEvoy, M., Smith, W. T., D’Este, C. A., Duke, J. M., Peel, R., Schofield, P. W., Scott, R. J., Byles, J., Henry, D. A., Ewald, B., et al. (2010) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyp343 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Self-citationMarcellini, F., Giuli, C., Papa, R., Gagliardi, C., Dedoussis, G. V., Herbein, G., Fülöp, T., Monti, D., Rink, L., Jajte, J., et al. (2006) · Biogerontology · doi:10.1007/s10522-006-9048-4 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Liu, L., Wang, P., Roebothan, B., Ryan, A. M., Tucker, C., Colbourne, J., Baker, N., Cotterchio, M., Yi, Y., & Sun, G. (2013) · Nutrition Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2891-12-49 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Mauskopf, J., Simon, G. E., Kalsekar, A., Nimsch, C. T., Dunayevich, E., & Cameron, A. E. (2008) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20505 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Maserejian, N. N., Hall, S. A., & McKinlay, J. B. (2011) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2011.09.039 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Overview of Nutritional Epidemiology
Willett, W. C. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754038.003.0001 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
“Beyondblue: The National Depression Initiative”
Hickie, I. B. (2001) · Australasian Psychiatry · doi:10.1046/j.1440-1665.2001.00321.x · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Gartlehner, G., Hansen, R. A., Thieda, P., DeVeaugh‐Geiss, A., Gaynes, B. N., Krebs, E. E., Lux, L. J., Morgan, L. C., Shumate, J., Monroe, L. G., et al. (2007) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Red meat consumption and mood and anxiety disorders
Jacka, F. N., Pasco, J. A., Williams, L. J., Mann, N., Hodge, A., Brazionis, L., & Berk, M. (2012) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000334910 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Overview of Nutritional Epidemiology
Willett, W. (1998) · Nutritional Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195122978.003.01 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Lönnerdal, B. (1989) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/119.suppl_12.1839 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Dietary intake of zinc was inversely associated with depression
Yary, T., & Aazami, S. (2012) · Biological Trace Element Research · doi:10.1007/s12011-011-9202-y · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Lehto, S. M., Ruusunen, A., Tolmunen, T., Voutilainen, S., Tuomainen, T.-P., & Kauhanen, J. (2013) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.03.027 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Higher zinc intake buffers the impact of stress on depressive symptoms in pregnancy
Roy, A., Evers, S. E., Avison, W. R., & Campbell, M. K. (2010) · Nutrition Research · doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2010.09.011 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Lai, J. S., Attia, J., McEvoy, M., et al. (2014) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu6114906 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Tardy, A.-L., Pouteau, E., Marquez, D., Yilmaz, C., & Scholey, A. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12010228 · Cited by 541 · see citing works
Dietary recommendations for the prevention of depression
Opie, R. S., Itsiopoulos, C., Parletta, N., Sanchez-Villegas, A., Akbaraly, T. N., Ruusunen, A., & Jacka, F. N. (2017) · Nutritional Neuroscience · doi:10.1179/1476830515y.0000000043 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Li, J., Wang, H., Li, M., Shen, Q., Li, X., Zhang, Y., Peng, J., Rong, X., & Peng, Y. (2020) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.14935 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Dietary zinc and iron intake and risk of depression: a meta-analysis
Li, Z., Li, B., Song, X., & Zhang, D. (2017) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.02.006 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
- Authors
- Vashum, K. P., McEvoy, M., Milton, A. H., McElduff, P., Hure, A., Byles, J., & Attia, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Hunter Medical Research Institute (AU)
- John Hunter Hospital (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Vashum, Khanrin Phungamla
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-09
- Volume
- 166
- Pages
- 249-257
- ISSN
- 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2039178606
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 10.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Government
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Trace Elements in Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
- Keywords
- dietary zinc, depression incidence, micronutrient intake, Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, prospective cohort
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Australia, Depression, Depressive Disorder, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Risk, Zinc, Incidence, Self Report
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
