Mediterranean diet and wellbeing: evidence from a nationwide survey
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Although there is some evidence of the association between specific food groups, such as plant foods, and subjective wellbeing, this is the first study to assess the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern and subjective wellbeing. DESIGN: Data were collected in 2014-2015, within the Edad con Salud project, a follow-up study of a multistage clustered survey on a representative sample of the population of Spain. The final sample comprised 2397 individuals with ages ranging from 21 to 101 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Experienced wellbeing (positive and negative affect) was measured using the Day Reconstruction Method, and evaluative wellbeing was assessed with the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. RESULTS: A higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet showed a small but statistically significant inverse relationship with negative affect (β = -0.076, p=.001), and direct with evaluative wellbeing (β = 0.053, p=.015), whereas it was not related to positive affect. Several components of the Mediterranean diet were independently associated with wellbeing. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that adherence to a dietary pattern such as the Mediterranean diet, and not only the isolated consumption of its components, is associated with a better subjective wellbeing.
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Nutrients derived from diet, such as vitamins, minerals, poly-unsaturated fats, and amino acids support healthy brain function.
“Nutrients derived from diet, such as vitamins, minerals, poly-unsaturated fats, and amino acids support healthy brain function [51–55].”
From Role of diet and its effects on the gut microbiome in the pathophysiology of mental disorders (2022) · cites this paper as [54]
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- Authors
- Moreno-Agostino, D., Caballero, F. F., Martín-María, N., Tyrovolas, S., López-García, P., Rodríguez-Artalejo, F., Haro, J. M., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., & Miret, M.
- Affiliations
- Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain;
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain;
- Corresponding author
- Miret, Marta
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychology & Health
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-10-15
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 321-335
- ISSN
- 0887-0446 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-8321
- OpenAlex
- W2897970326
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 3.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychology and Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (co-funded by the European Union European Regional Development Fund (PI12/, 0, PI13/, 9 and CD15/, 9)
- Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports (FPU15/, 4)
- Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
- FPI-UAM
- Foundation for Education and European Culture
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Keywords
- Mediterranean diet, dietary adherence, subjective well-being, negative affect, positive affect, Day Reconstruction Method, plant-based foods, diet and mental health
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Spain, Diet, Mediterranean, Young Adult
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