Associations of Dietary Vitamin C and E Intake With Depression. A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Objective: The associations of dietary vitamin C and E intake with depression remains conflicting. This meta-analysis of observational study was therefore employed to clarify the issue further.& nbsp;Methods: An extensive literature review (PubMed, Web of Science and Embase) was performed in January 2022 to identify the observational studies on the associations of dietary vitamin C and E intake with depression. The pooled relative risk (RR) of depression for the highest versus lowest dietary vitamin C and E intake category, and the weighted mean difference (WMD) of dietary vitamin C and E intake for depression versus control subjects, were calculated.& nbsp;Results: A total of 25 observational studies (91966 participants) were included in this meta-analysis. The overall multi-variable adjusted RR demonstrated that dietary vitamin C intake was inversely associated with depression (RR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.57 to 0.91; P = 0.005). In addition, the combined WMD showed that the dietary vitamin C intake in depression was lower than that in control subjects (WMD = -11.58, 95% CI: -14.88 to -8.29; P < 0.001). Similarly, the overall multi-variable adjusted RR demonstrated that dietary vitamin E intake was negatively associated with depression (RR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.72 to 0.98; P = 0.02). Moreover, the combined WMD showed that the dietary vitamin E intake in depression was also lower than that in control subjects (WMD = -0.71, 95% CI: -1.07 to -0.34; P < 0.001).& nbsp;Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis suggest that both dietary vitamin C and E intake is inversely associated with depression. However, due to the limited evidence, more well-designed prospective cohort studies are still needed.

Automated summary

This meta-analysis suggests an inverse association between dietary intake of vitamin C and E and depression. However, more well-designed prospective cohort studies are needed to further confirm this relationship.