Mediterranean diet and emotion regulation.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Psychology
• Health and Well-being

Background:

• Mediterranean dietary patterns are recognized for their benefits to cardiovascular and psychological health.
• Previous research has not established a link between the Mediterranean diet and emotion regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To prospectively investigate the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and subsequent emotion regulation.
• To determine if positive or negative affect mediates this relationship.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Adventist Health Study-2 and Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Substudy.
• Assessed Mediterranean diet adherence using the Trichopoulou score and measured emotion regulation and affect using validated scales.
• Employed multiple linear regression and Hayes PROCESS SPSS macros for statistical analysis in a cohort of 5,000+ participants.

Main Results:

• Higher Mediterranean diet adherence was inversely associated with difficulties in emotional clarity.
• Positive affect fully mediated the relationship by decreasing emotional clarity difficulties.
• Negative affect fully mediated the relationship by increasing emotional clarity difficulties.

Conclusions:

• Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with improved emotional clarity.
• The mechanism involves the diet's impact on positive and negative affect.
• This highlights a potential dietary influence on emotional processing and regulation.