The Impact of Personalized Dietary Interventions on Symptom Severity and Dietary Habits in Female Patients with...

Rapid advances in nutritional psychiatry highlight the central role of the gut-brain axis in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. Despite strong theoretical evidence linking poor dietary habits and dysbiosis to increased subclinical inflammation, standardized nutritional assessments and personalized dietary care are rarely implemented in routine clinical practice for patients with affective disorders.

The objective was to perform a prospective evaluation of the impact of personalized dietary and educational interventions on the severity of depressive, anxiety, and manic symptoms, as well as on the modification of selected anthropometric parameters and behavioral dietary patterns in female patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and recurrent depression.

This pilot study included a cohort of n = 25 female patients (mean age: 31.32 ± 11.23 years). The participants underwent a 12-week personalized dietary modification and nutritional education program (focused on reducing pro-inflammatory foods, establishing meal regularity, and providing targeted supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D3, magnesium, and sodium butyrate). Mental health status was evaluated at two time points (Point I-baseline, Point II-follow-up) using the GAD-7, HADS, MADRS, and YMRS scales. Body mass index (BMI) and dietary habit profiles were monitored concurrently.

At the endpoint, a significant reduction in depressive symptom severity was observed on the MADRS (from 15.52 ± 12.01 to 13.20 ± 11.66 points; p < 0.001) and HADS (from 17.00 ± 7.58 to 14.88 ± 7.82 points; p = 0.004). GAD-7 scores decreased from 8.60 ± 4.75 to 7.60 ± 4.63 points (p = 0.065),whereas YMRS scores remained stable (3.80 vs. 3.56 points). Overall, 72.0% of patients (n = 18) reported improved dietary habits, including increased rates of optimal hydration (from 36.0% to 56.0%; p = 0.031) and the adoption of targeted omega-3 supplementation (from 12.0% to 36.0%; p = 0.031). A significant correlation was demonstrated between improved diet quality and the reduction in depressive symptoms (R = -0.42; p = 0.036).

This pilot study demonstrates that personalized dietary care is a feasible and safe adjunctive intervention for female patients with affective disorders, providing preliminary evidence of associations with reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms alongside favorable modifications in health-related behaviors. These findings inform the design of future large-scale randomized controlled trials.