A scoping review of diet-focused resources to improve depression and anxiety among people with multiple sclerosis

Depression and anxiety are more prevalent in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in the general population. A high-quality diet has been shown to have beneficial effects on MS symptoms, including mental health outcomes. Adults with MS gather information from a range of resources with the aim of improving their diet and mental health. However, the development and nature of diet-focused resources aimed at improving mental health in adults with MS remain unclear. We conducted a scoping review to identify and map diet-focused resources aimed at improving depression and anxiety in adults with MS. From 956 resources screened (n = 834 articles and other resources retrieved from databases; n = 98 resources retrieved from websites; n = 17 resources retrieved from organisations; n = 7 retrieved from citation searching), 64 were included (n = 42 resources from organisations or web searches, e.g., podcast episodes, blog posts, web articles; n = 20 peer-reviewed articles; n = 1 mobile application in development; n = 1 book). Resources mentioned an extensive range of dietary information linked to depression and anxiety for people with MS. These resources involved a combination of input from experts (n = 54), organisations (n = 23), lived experience (n = 22), authors/journalists (n = 5), or co-design (n = 1); however, six resources were based solely on lived experience. Twenty resources were not directly accessible to people with MS. There is a need to develop co-designed and accessible diet-focused resources to improve mental health in people with MS.