High-potassium Diets Show Consistent Mental Health Benefits

From kimchi to leafy greens, scientists uncover really mineral-rich diets, particularly potassium, whitethorn thief protect intelligence wellness crossed cultures.

Study: Mineral Intake and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study Based connected National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys successful Korea and nan United States. Image Credit: Yulia Furman / Shutterstock

In a caller article published successful nan diary Nutrients, researchers investigated nan narration betwixt nan intake of minerals specified arsenic calcium, zinc, and iron, and nan incidence of slump among adults successful nan United States and Korea.

They recovered that Korean adults pinch higher intakes of potassium and sodium were little apt to acquisition depression, pinch phosphorus showing a borderline association, a uncovering akin to that of American adults pinch higher intakes of potassium and zinc, pinch robust showing borderline significance.

Background

Depression is simply a wide temper upset marked by persistent sadness and hopelessness, and is expected to go a awesome world wellness burden. In South Korea, astir 5% of adults study depressive disorders, while successful nan U.S., complete 17 cardinal adults acquisition astatine slightest 1 awesome depressive section each year.

Many affected individuals stay untreated, often owed to stigma and reluctance to activity help, while precocious recurrence rates make guidance challenging. Nutrition has been progressively linked to intelligence health, pinch deficiencies successful minerals specified arsenic magnesium, zinc, and selenium associated pinch cognitive diminution and psychiatric conditions.

However, nan roles of sodium and potassium successful slump person received small attention, contempt their abundance successful mundane diets. Sodium is chiefly consumed arsenic array salt, while potassium is recovered successful a assortment of foods.

Given nan constricted investigation and nan imaginable for dietary guidance to amended intelligence wellness outcomes, this study aimed to comprehensively measure nan relation betwixt 7 dietary minerals and slump successful Korean and American adults.

The comparison betwixt these 2 culturally and nutritionally chopped populations could thief place shared and unsocial patterns, offering a instauration for early investigation and nationalist wellness strategies successful intelligence wellness nutrition.

About nan Study

In this cross-sectional analysis, researchers utilized information from nationally typical wellness and nutrition surveys successful some countries, employing multistage, stratified sampling. Korean adults aged 19 and supra and American adults aged 18 and supra who completed slump screening were included, excluding those who were pregnant, nether slump treatment, aliases pinch missing cardinal data.

The last sample included 12,996 Koreans and 9,547 Americans. People pinch a slump people of 10 aliases complete were considered to beryllium depressed. Dietary mineral intake (calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium) was estimated from 24-hour dietary recalls, utilizing nationalist nutrient creation databases.

Covariates included demographics, socioeconomic factors, assemblage wide scale (BMI), manner habits, comorbidities, and full power intake. Associations betwixt mineral intake and slump were assessed utilizing multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for imaginable confounders. Survey-specific sampling weights ensured nationalist representativeness.

Key Findings

In nan Korean sample, 4.1% of 12,996 participants had depression, while successful nan American sample, 6.2% of 9,547 participants were affected.

In some countries, individuals pinch slump were much often female, had little income and acquisition levels, were much apt to unrecorded alone, and showed higher slump screening scores, smoking rates, glucosuria prevalence, and comorbidity scores.

Regular workout was little communal successful nan U.S. slump group. Mineral intake was mostly little among those pinch depression, isolated from for calcium, which did not travel this pattern.

Multivariable-adjusted analyses showed that successful Korea, higher sodium and potassium intakes were importantly associated pinch little likelihood of depression, pinch phosphorus showing borderline significance.

In nan U.S., potassium and zinc were importantly associated, and robust showed borderline significance. Restricted cubic spline study indicated that intakes beneath definite thresholds were linked to higher slump risk.

Subgroup study revealed population- and group-specific patterns: for example, sodium was protective among Korean men, potassium among older Americans, and zinc among non-obese Americans. Additional subgroup findings included important associations for phosphorus among Korean females, potassium, iron, and zinc among U.S. males, and sodium among Koreans aged ≤65 years.

Some minerals were associated pinch slump successful 1 activity aliases BMI class but not nan other. Potassium was nan only mineral consistently linked to little slump consequence successful some countries, highlighting its imaginable cosmopolitan relevance for intelligence health. Notably, magnesium and calcium showed nary important associations pinch slump successful either population.

Conclusions

This study recovered inverse associations betwixt definite minerals and depression, pinch patterns differing betwixt Korea and nan U.S. Potassium consistently showed protective effects successful some populations, while sodium was important successful Korea, phosphorus showed borderline value successful Korea, and robust showed borderline significance, and zinc was important successful nan U.S.

These differences whitethorn bespeak variations successful mean intake, dietary sources, and nutrient bioavailability, specified arsenic substantially higher sodium intake successful Korea from fermented vegetables, soups, and stews, aliases greater bioavailable heme robust and zinc from reddish nutrient successful nan U.S.. In contrast, Korean diets characteristic much plant-based and seafood sources pinch little nutrient bioavailability.

Strengths see large, nationally typical datasets from 2 culturally chopped countries, nan introspection of 7 minerals, and subgroup analyses revealing demographic and manner influences.

Limitations impact nan cross-sectional design, preventing causal inference, imaginable reverse causation, reliance connected 24-hour recall, which whitethorn beryllium peculiarly inaccurate, particularly owed to depression-related representation impairment, and nan usage of self-reported slump measures that tin beryllium taxable to bias.

Overall, nan findings propose that dietary mineral intake could beryllium integrated into intelligence wellness strategies. Longitudinal studies are needed to corroborate causality and explain mechanisms linking minerals to slump risk.