According to the World Health Organization, health is not only the absence of sickness or infirmity but rather a state of complete bodily, mental, and social well-being. In addition, healthy aging is described as a continual process of maximizing possibilities to preserve and improve physical and mental health, independence, and quality of life. Both concepts emphasize the significance of mental health at all stages of life. Among various lifestyle factors, food consumption and dietary factors are correlated with many mental health and aging-related outcomes based on observational studies. However, due to unobserved confounding variables and the possible threat of bidirectional causation, the findings are largely inconclusive, and the intricate interaction between these variables makes identifying causality challenging. Recent interdisciplinary advancements in causal inference, such as one-sample and two-sample Mendelian randomization leveraging genetic data, offer new chances to unravel the causal relationship between food consumption with mental health and aging.
The primary goal of this Research Topic is to present multidisciplinary studies that address the causal association between food/dietary/nutritional factors and mental health/aging-related outcomes using confounding-reduction methods that integrate genetic data, such as one-sample and two-sample Mendelian randomization. It intends to provide insights into how certain food intake and dietary patterns may be used to promote mental health and healthy aging in clinical, public mental health, and policy interventions.
We invite researchers to submit a range of articles, including but not limited to original research articles, brief research reports, reviews, meta-analyses, opinions, perspectives, and case reports to provide new evidence on the following:
- The causal effect of food consumption/dietary factors on mental health-related outcomes, such as risks of mental disorders, subjective well-being, and life satisfaction;
- The causal effect of food consumption/dietary factors on aging-related outcomes, such as longevity, cognitive function, telomere length, and DNA methylation;
- Possible mechanisms for associations between food/dietary/nutritional factors and mental health/aging-related outcomes;
- Gene-environment interplay in associations between food/dietary/nutritional factors and mental health/aging-related outcomes.
According to the World Health Organization, health is not only the absence of sickness or infirmity but rather a state of complete bodily, mental, and social well-being. In addition, healthy aging is described as a continual process of maximizing possibilities to preserve and improve physical and mental health, independence, and quality of life. Both concepts emphasize the significance of mental health at all stages of life. Among various lifestyle factors, food consumption and dietary factors are correlated with many mental health and aging-related outcomes based on observational studies. However, due to unobserved confounding variables and the possible threat of bidirectional causation, the findings are largely inconclusive, and the intricate interaction between these variables makes identifying causality challenging. Recent interdisciplinary advancements in causal inference, such as one-sample and two-sample Mendelian randomization leveraging genetic data, offer new chances to unravel the causal relationship between food consumption with mental health and aging.
The primary goal of this Research Topic is to present multidisciplinary studies that address the causal association between food/dietary/nutritional factors and mental health/aging-related outcomes using confounding-reduction methods that integrate genetic data, such as one-sample and two-sample Mendelian randomization. It intends to provide insights into how certain food intake and dietary patterns may be used to promote mental health and healthy aging in clinical, public mental health, and policy interventions.
We invite researchers to submit a range of articles, including but not limited to original research articles, brief research reports, reviews, meta-analyses, opinions, perspectives, and case reports to provide new evidence on the following:
- The causal effect of food consumption/dietary factors on mental health-related outcomes, such as risks of mental disorders, subjective well-being, and life satisfaction;
- The causal effect of food consumption/dietary factors on aging-related outcomes, such as longevity, cognitive function, telomere length, and DNA methylation;
- Possible mechanisms for associations between food/dietary/nutritional factors and mental health/aging-related outcomes;
- Gene-environment interplay in associations between food/dietary/nutritional factors and mental health/aging-related outcomes.