Research

Macro partitioning

Among older adults (65+), higher intake of carbohydrate-rich foods is negatively associated with self-reported depressive symptoms, contradicting the hypothesis that carbohydrates have no association with depression.

For older adults, eating carbohydrate-rich foods like pasta and cookies was linked to fewer depressive symptoms in this study. Rather than strictly avoiding carbs for mental health, consider that these foods may serve as comfort strategies that help alleviate negative emotions in this age group.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
unlike Gopinath et al. [21], we found that the consumption of carbohydrate-rich food was negatively associated with the CES-D score.
Marilena Ruiu et al. · Aging Clinical and Experimental Research · 2022

Why this rating

Cross-sectional observational study with a moderate sample size (n=318), controlling for covariates, but lacking causal inference.

Source

Is the Sardinian Blue Zone the New Shangri-La for mental health? Evidence on depressive symptoms and its correlates in late adult life span

Marilena Ruiu et al. · Aging Clinical and Experimental Research · 2022

DOI 10.1007/s40520-021-02068-7

cross_sectional · n=318Cited 15×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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