Healthy diet, depression and quality of life: A narrative review of biological mechanisms and primary prevention opportunities

Figure 1 Summary of interactions between the Mediterranean diet and the unipolar depressive disorder hypotheses. On the left side of the panel are the main food groups and their bioactive compounds, with known interactions with unipolar depressive disorder pathways. Each bioactive compound has a designated figure and color. The right side of the panel summarizes the aetiological hypotheses of depression and the main contributors to the disease. Black arrows designate the sequence of biological events in each mechanism, whereas “T” shaped lines designate an inhibitor effect. The figures designated for each compound are located within the sequence of biological events to designate the site of interaction with these mechanisms. See the main text for a detailed description of these interactions and associations. MD: Mediterranean diet; UDD: Unipolar depressive disorder; IL-6: Interleukin-6; CRP: C-reactive protein; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor.