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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1465736
This article is part of the Research Topic Nutrition and Neurobehaviors View all 15 articles

Association Between Dietary Fiber Intake and Suicidal Ideation: A Cross-sectional Survey

Provisionally accepted
Huaying Huang Huaying Huang 1*Jianjiong Fu Jianjiong Fu 2*Yaming Fu Yaming Fu 3*Pan Zhuge Pan Zhuge 4*Yao Yu Yao Yu 3*
  • 1 Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China
  • 2 Department of Neurology, Zhuji Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Shaoxing, China
  • 3 Department of Neurology, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China
  • 4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Dietary fiber is beneficial for improving mental health. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between fiber-rich food and suicidal ideation. Thus, we aimed to assess whether dietary fiber consumption was associated with the risk of suicidal ideation.Methods: Data of 21,865 American adults were retrieved from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Logistic and restricted cubic spline regression analyses were performed in order to evaluate the association of dietary fiber intake with suicidal ideation, as indicated by item nine of the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). These analyses took into consideration several confounding factors that may potentially influence the results.Results: Herein, we detected an L-shaped association between dietary fiber intake and the risk of suicidal ideation. For the most conclusive model, an increase of 1 g/1000 kcal/d in dietary fiber intake was accompanied by a 5% reduction in the risk of suicidal ideation. The inflection point of the L-shaped association was located at 7.8 g/1000 kcal/d. When dietary fiber intake exceeded the above level, the risk of suicidal ideation no longer decreased.Our findings of reduced risk of suicidal ideation in people with higher dietary fiber intake suggest the potential clinical and public health value of dietary fiber.Interventional investigations are warranted to prove whether adhering to a high-fiber diet prevents and reduces suicidality.

    Keywords: Cross-sectional study, Dietary Fiber, NHANES, Suicidal Ideation, Nineitem Patient Health Questionnaire

    Received: 16 Jul 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Huang, Fu, Fu, Zhuge and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Huaying Huang, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China
    Jianjiong Fu, Department of Neurology, Zhuji Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Shaoxing, China
    Yaming Fu, Department of Neurology, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China
    Pan Zhuge, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China
    Yao Yu, Department of Neurology, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.