Over 1000 overweight or obese people from four European countries took part in the study. They had an increased risk of depression and reported at least mild depressive symptoms – but not depression – at the start of the study. The study participants were randomly divided into groups and either took a daily nutritional supplement – consisting of omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, folic acid, selenium, vitamin D and zinc – or a placebo. In addition, half of all study participants received professional psychological counselling on healthy eating and lifestyles in individual and group sessions, with the aim of establishing healthier dietary patterns.
Dr Elisabeth Kohls, who coordinated the project at Leipzig University, explains the main finding of the study: “Taking nutritional supplements on a daily basis over the course of a year was unable to prevent the occurrence of a depressive episode in the sample studied; nutritional supplements therefore have no preventive effect with regard to depression. In the study, the nutritional supplements were no more effective than the placebos, and in some analyses they were even worse. Similarly, professional psychological counselling on healthy diets and lifestyles also had no preventive effect in the sample.”
“These results are important for the millions of depressive patients in Germany, but also for the wider population,” emphasises Professor Ulrich Hegerl, who co-authored the article and is Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Leipzig and President of the German Depression Foundation (SDD). “Depression is a serious and often life-threatening disease. It reduces life expectancy by an average of ten years. As with any serious illness, it is important to rely on methods and treatments with proven effects, both in terms of prevention and therapy. To influence the development of the disease, this includes drug therapy and psychotherapy, but not nutritional supplements. It is understandable that people often look for ways to reduce their own risk of developing depression. We now know that nutritional supplements are generally inappropriate in this regard.”
MooDFOOD was funded by the European Commission (Framework Programme 7, Grant Agreement: 613598) and coordinated at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. A total of 14 research institutions from Europe were involved in the project. Headed by Professor Ulrich Hegerl, one of the four study centres in Europe comprised Leipzig University’s Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.
Original title of the publication in Journal of the American Medical Association:
Effect of Multinutrient Supplementation and Food-Related Behavioral Activation Therapy on Prevention of Major Depressive Disorder Among Overweight or Obese Adults With Subsyndromal Depressive Symptoms, DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.0556
Contact:
Dr Elisabeth Kohls
Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
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