The Role of Nutrition in Mitigating Depression: Mechanisms, Interventions, and Outcomes

Depression is marked by enduring feelings of sadness and a diminished capacity to find joy or satisfaction in things that were previously enjoyable. It can also disturb sleep and appetite, resulting in weariness and difficulty concentrating. As a prevalent psychiatric condition, it has emerged as the primary factor contributing to disability on a global scale, impacting over 264 million individuals. Due to its enduring and recurring nature, as well as its significant impact on an individual's functioning and overall life satisfaction, depression has become a prominent public health issue worldwide. Hence, the identification of modifiable risk factors for depression is a crucial and pressing research effort. In recent times, there has been a growing interest in studying the connection between nutrition and depressive illnesses through both observational and clinical studies. Nevertheless, investigating individual nutrients in relation to the illness is challenging due to the intricate combinations and interactions among nutrients in an individual's daily diet.

The objective of this Research Topic is to investigate and understand the correlation between depression and diet in the field of nutritional epidemiology. This will be achieved by making use of dietary assessment methods, nutritional analyses, analyses of dietary patterns, or the creation of novel biomarkers. The objective is to elucidate the significance of diet and nutrition in the prevention and management of depression.

We specifically encourage the submission of Systematic Reviews, Meta-analyses, and Original Research Articles focusing around, but are not restricted to, the following concepts:

- Correlations between consumption of nutrients (such as vitamins, fatty acids, polyphenols, etc.) and the occurrence of depression.

- Correlations between eating habits (such as vegetables and fruits, fish, nuts, etc.) and the occurrence of depression

- Correlations between eating patterns, quality, behaviours, and depression

- The influence of nutrition and genetic factors/intestinal microbiota on the likelihood of developing depression.

Original article, systematic review, meta-analysis, mini-review, and clinical trial articles providing additional knowledge on the topic "The Role of Nutrition in Mitigating Depression: Mechanisms, Interventions, and Outcomes" will be welcome.

Keywords: Diet, Lifestyle, Depression, Food, Nutrition, Dietary Patterns, Nutritional Epidemiology, Depressive Disorder

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.