OLDER adults in England who followed a Mediterranean diet reported greater psychological wellbeing, especially during the early COVID-19 pandemic, a study tracking more than 3,000 people has found, hinting that how we eat may support mental as well as physical health in later life
Diet and Positive Wellbeing
A Mediterranean-style diet has been tied to lower depression, but its link to positive states of wellbeing, rather than the mere absence of distress, has been little studied. Researchers tested whether adherence to the Mediterranean diet related to wellbeing in older adults, and whether it offered any buffer during the upheaval of the pandemic
Study Design and Wellbeing Measures
The prospective observational study drew on 3,296 participants (46% men; mean age 68.2 years) in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, all aged 50 or over, who completed a dietary module in 2018/2019. Adherence was scored using the relative Mediterranean Diet Index. Psychological wellbeing was measured with the CASP-12 scale at baseline and again in the early months of the pandemic in 2020. Analyses adjusted for depressive symptoms, income, education, physical activity, smoking, self-rated health, and limiting long-standing illness, isolating diet’s contribution rather than testing any intervention.
A Buffer Through Pandemic Stress
Cross-sectionally, higher Mediterranean diet scores were associated with greater psychological wellbeing (β=0.054; p<0.001), independent of depressive symptoms and the full set of socioeconomic and health covariates. Prospectively, higher adherence in 2018/2019 predicted smaller declines in wellbeing during the early pandemic (β=0.026; p=0.042), even after accounting for baseline wellbeing and COVID-19 infection experience. The effect sizes were modest, but the pandemic association held despite widespread societal stress, suggesting the link was not merely a fair-weather one.
Nutrition as a Public Mental Health Lever
The authors concluded that greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet was positively associated with psychological wellbeing in older adults, a relationship that persisted through a period of collective strain. They cautioned, though, that only about half completed the dietary module, and non-completers were poorer, less healthy, and lower in wellbeing, which limits how far the findings generalise
Steptoe A et al. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and psychological wellbeing before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. BMJ open. 2026;16(6):e109599
Featured image: Rodica Ciorba on Adobe Stock
Author:
Katrina Thornber
