Photo Credit: AI

The following is a summary of “Association of energy or macronutrient intake in three meals with depression in adults with cardiovascular disease: the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003–2018,” published in the January 2025 issue of BMC Psychiatry by Xie et al. 

Individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD) are at higher risk for depression. The timing of food intake may influence depression risk by affecting the body’s circadian rhythm. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate associations between dietary energy or macronutrient intake across 3 meals and depression in adults with CVD.  

They analyzed data from 3,490 U.S. adults with CVD (including 554 with depression) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2018. Energy and macronutrient intake were measured by a 24-h dietary recall, and depression was diagnosed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9, score ≥ 10). Adults with CVD were divided into 5 groups based on dietary intake. Logistic regression examined associations between energy or macronutrient intake and depression, adjusting for confounders like age, gender, education, income, smoking, drinking, physical activity, marital status, meal skipping, total energy, carbohydrate, protein, dietary fiber, SFA, MUFA, PUFA intake, T2DM, hypertension, and BMI. Dietary substitution models assessed depression risk changes when 5% energy intake at dinner or lunch was replaced with breakfast energy intake. 

The results showed that compared with participants in the lowest quintile of breakfast energy intake, those in the highest quintile had a lower depression risk (adjusted (OR): 0.71, 95% CI: 0.51 to 0.91). There was no significant association between lunch or dinner energy intake and depression risk, with adjusted ORs of 1.08 (95% CI: 0.65 to 1.83) and 0.92 (95% CI: 0.62 to 1.37), respectively. Replacing 5% of total energy at dinner or lunch with breakfast was associated with a 5% lower risk of depression (OR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93 to 0.97 and OR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93 to 0.96). 

Investigators found that high energy intake at breakfast was associated with a lower risk of depression in individuals with CVD. The potential role of breakfast energy intake in preventing depression onset was highlighted. 

Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-025-06541-9