Association between plant-based diets and depressive symptoms among Chinese middle-aged and older adults

Li Zhang; Shuai Chen; Lijuan Xu; Sui Tang; Chen Huang; Jin Zhou; Chang-Shu Liu; Sai Wang; Yang Cong; Tingting Li; Liangkai Chen; Wenxue Zhang; Shuang Rong

doi:10.1038/s41538-025-00399-7

Association between plant-based diets and depressive symptoms among Chinese middle-aged and older adults

NPJ Sci Food. 2025 Mar 25;9(1):42. doi: 10.1038/s41538-025-00399-7.

Authors

Li Zhang^#^{1

2}, Shuai Chen^#³, Lijuan Xu^#³, Sui Tang³, Chen Huang⁴, Jin Zhou⁵, Chang-Shu Liu⁶, Sai Wang⁶, Yang Cong⁶, Tingting Li³, Liangkai Chen⁷, Wenxue Zhang³, Shuang Rong^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Nutrition, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230001, China.
² Department of Neurology, Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Wuhan University; Research Center of Public Health, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
⁴ School of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, China.
⁵ Chinese Nutrition Society (CNS) Academy of Nutrition and Health (Beijing Zhongyinghui Nutrition and Health Research Institute), Beijing, China.
⁶ Standard Foods (China) Co., Ltd., No. 88 Dalian West Road, Taicang Port Economic and Technological Development Zone New Zone, Suzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China.
⁷ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Hubei Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁸ Department of Clinical Nutrition, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230001, China. rongshuangwhu@yeah.net.
⁹ Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Wuhan University; Research Center of Public Health, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China. rongshuangwhu@yeah.net.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate associations between plant-based diets and the prevalence of depressive symptoms (DepS) among Chinese middle-aged and older adults. This study included 3153 participants aged 45 and older. Dietary intake was collected using a food frequency questionnaire, and DepS was evaluated using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. Foods were classified into 17 groups and three plant-based diet indices were created, including the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI), and unhealthful plant-based diet index (uPDI). Compared to the lowest quartile, participants in the highest quartile of hPDI had lower odds of DepS (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.89). Conversely, the highest quartile of the uPDI was associated with higher odds of DepS (OR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.82). These findings supported that the quality of plant-based diets matters for mental health.