◎鄭寺音

The Mediterranean diet, already thought to protect against heart disease and cancer, may also help to prevent depression, Spanish researchers say. They found depression was more than 30% less likely to develop in people who followed a diet high in vegetables, fruit and cereals, and low in red meat.

西班牙研究人員說，已被認為可預防心臟病與癌症的地中海飲食，或許也有助於預防憂鬱。他們發現，遵循多蔬果與榖類、少紅肉飲食的人，憂鬱機率低30%以上。

Researchers at the Universities of Las Palmas and Navarra recruited university graduates to take part. They completed questionnaires and the researchers calculated their adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern （MDP） for an average of four-and-a-half years.

西班牙納瓦拉的拉斯帕爾馬斯大學研究人員，招募大學畢業生參與研究，他們填寫問卷，研究人員計算他們在平均4年半期間，對地中海飲食模式的遵循程度。

Participants who had a strong adherence to the MDP tended to be male, ex-smokers, married and older individuals. They were more active physically and showed a higher total energy intake.

嚴守地中海飲食模式的參與者，多是已戒菸、男性、已婚、年紀較大者，體能上比較活躍，總能量攝取也較高。

The researchers identified 480 new cases of depression during the follow-up period-156 in men and 324 in women. They found that those with the highest adherence to the MDP were more than 30% less likely to develop depression.

研究人員在追蹤階段發現480起新的憂鬱案例，156人是男性，324名是女性。他們發現，最高度遵循地中海飲食模式者，罹患憂鬱的可能性低30%以上。

They took into account marital status, the number of children and factors associated with a healthy lifestyle and found the relationship did not change.

他們把婚姻狀況、生幾個小孩、以及與健康生活型態相關的因素都考慮在內，發現地中海飲食與憂鬱的關係並未改變。

新聞辭典

blue：名詞／形容詞，憂鬱／憂鬱的。例句：He’s been a bit blue since he failed his exams.（他考試失利後就有點憂鬱。）

adherence：名詞，堅持，嚴守。例句：He was noted for his strict adherence to the rules.（他以嚴守規則出名。）

take into account：片語，把…考慮進去。例句：I hope my teacher will take into account the fact that I was ill just before the exams when she marks my paper.（希望老師改考卷的時候，能把我考試前才剛剛生病的事考慮進去。）

自由時報-981015

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