Fruit and Vegetable Dietary Patterns and Mental Health in Women: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Context: Mental health may be influenced by some dietary patterns. Among common elements of beneficial patterns is high fruit and vegetable intake. However, no systematic review has been conducted to date, to our knowledge, that has assessed the influence of fruit and vegetable dietary patterns on a broad spectrum of mental health.

Objective: We conducted a systematic review, using the PRISMA guidelines, of the observational studies analyzing the association between the dietary pattern of fruit and vegetables and the broad aspects of mental health in adult women.

Data sources: The databases PubMed and Web of Science were searched, and additional manual search for observational peer-reviewed studies was conducted for studies published until June 2019.

Data extraction: A total of 5911 studies were extracted and verified based on title and abstract for the inclusion criteria. All procedures were conducted independently by 2 researchers. The final number of included studies was 30. The review was structured around the type of observed outcome.

Data analysis: The included studies had defined habitual intake associated with dietary patterns with the intake of specific fruit and/or vegetables, and/or fruit or vegetable products (eg, juices), as well as any aspect of the broad spectrum of general mental health. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess bias. The observed association was not stated in all the included studies; some of them revealed a reverse relationship, but only for the vegetarian/vegan diet. A vegetarian diet may be characterized by high consumption of fruits and vegetables, but it sometimes may not be properly balanced, due to excluded products. This may be the reason of observed situation.

Conclusions: A general positive influence was observed for the dietary patterns characterized by high consumption of fruit and vegetables and of fruit or vegetable products by women.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42019138148.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; dietary patterns; fruits; intake; juices; mental disorders; mental health; vegetables; vegetarian diet; women.