The association between paleolithic diet pattern scores and psychological disorders in Iranian adults

ABSTRACT

Background

There is evidence indicating that the transition from traditional Paleolithic lifestyle to contemporary lifestyle plays a significant impact in the occurrence and widespread of psychological problems. This study aimed to examine the associations between the Paleolithic diet (PD) and the Paleolithic-like lifestyle and the likelihood of psychological issues in adults.

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 7165 participants who were enrolled in the Yazd Health Study (YaHS) and Yazd Nutrition Study (TAMYZ). To evaluate the participants’ food intake, a reliable 178-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was utilized. The PD score was computed using the food intakes of subjects received from FFQ. The study utilized the authorized Iranian version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS 21) to evaluate psychological illnesses and stress levels.

Results

The mean ± SD of PD and Paleolithic-like lifestyle scores were 38.93 ± 5.27 and 48.48 ± 5.61, respectively. Based on the findings of the present study, after adjusting for potential confounders, it seems that increasing adherence to PD alone or in combination with lifestyle factors significantly reduces the risk of anxiety (OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.49–0.96; P-trend = 0.044 and OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.48–0.96; P-trend = 0.047, respectively). However, significant effects on the risk of depression and stress were not observed.

Conclusions

Our research indicates that adhering to a Paleolithic diet, either alone or in conjunction with lifestyle factors, significantly reduces the risk of anxiety in the general population.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychological
• paleolithic
• diet
• lifestyle
• anxiety
• depression
• Stress
• Cross-sectional‌

Acknowledgement

Yazd people who participated in YaHS and TAMYZ studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The data set generated and / or analyzed during the current study is not available to the public due to the non-publicity of the data, but is available at the reasonable request from corresponding author.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All participants signed an informed consent form before participation in the study. The methodology of the current study was also ethically approved by the research ethics committee of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences (approval code: IR.SSU.SPH.REC.1396.155, Date: June 20, 2017). Also, we confirm that all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Navideh Khodadadi

Navideh Khodadadi graduated from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences with a master's degree in clinical nutrition.

Mohammad Hassan Sohouli

Mohammad Hassan Sohouli graduated from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences with a doctorate in clinical nutrition and is currently working at the Children's Medical Center Hospital.

Masoud Mirzaei

Masoud Mirzaei works as an epidemiologist at the Cardiovascular Research Center of Yazd University of Medical Sciences.

Mahdieh Hosseinzadeh

Mahdieh Hosseinzadeh is a Ph.D with nutrition and a professor at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services.