Association Between Dietary Fiber and the Severity of Depression Symptoms

Aim: Our study is aimed at exploring the correlation between consumption of dietary fiber and the severity of depression symptoms. Methods: This study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning from 2007 to 2018, employing a cross-sectional design. The relationship between the severity of depression symptoms and intake of total cereals, vegetables, and fruits dietary fiber was assessed using both univariate and multivariate linear/logistic regression analyses. Stratified analyses were conducted based on hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, cancer or malignancy, and cardiovascular disease. Results: This study included 28,852 participants who were classified into 21,696 with nondepression symptoms, 4614 with mild depression symptoms, 1583 with moderate depression symptoms, 684 with moderately severe depression symptoms, and 275 with severe depression symptoms. After adjusting all confounding factors, we observed a negative correlation between total dietary fiber and depression symptoms (beta = -0.004, 95% confidence intervals [CIs]: -0.006, -0.002). Taking nondepression symptoms as a reference, total dietary fiber was found to have an inverse association with moderate (OR = 0.976, 95% CI: 0.962-0.991), moderately severe (OR = 0.963, 95% CI: 0.938-0.990), and severe depression symptoms (OR = 0.960, 95% CI: 0.921-1.001; marginal significance), respectively. Conclusion: The intakes of total dietary fibers might be related to moderate/moderately severe/severe depression symptoms, and a negative association was shown between total dietary fiber intakes and the risk of depression symptoms.