Eating well is usually framed around the body: heart health, blood sugar, weight or longevity. But a new study suggests a Mediterranean-style eating pattern may also be linked to how people feel about their lives as they age.
The study, published in BMJ Open, found that adults over 50 who more closely followed a Mediterranean-style diet reported higher psychological well-being. That included measures such as enjoyment of life, sense of purpose, independence, energy, control and outlook for the future.
The findings do not prove that a Mediterranean-style diet directly improves well-being. The study was observational, which means it can identify an association but cannot show cause and effect. Still, the research adds to growing interest in how overall diet quality may relate not only to disease risk but also to mental and emotional health.
The study analyzed data from 3,296 adults ages 50 to 90 who were part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Participants reported what they ate and drank on two nonconsecutive days between 2018 and 2019. Researchers then compared Mediterranean diet adherence with psychological well-being scores collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mediterranean diet is generally rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, olive oil and other minimally processed foods, with lower intake of foods such as processed meats and sweets. In this study, people who more closely followed that pattern tended to have better well-being, even after researchers accounted for depressive symptoms and socioeconomic status.
That distinction matters. The study did not focus only on whether people had fewer signs of depression. It looked at positive well-being, including whether people felt more capable, engaged, purposeful and able to enjoy life.
“Our study is observational and, therefore, the results should be interpreted with caution, since we cannot draw causal conclusions,” said Camille Lassale, ISGlobal researcher and senior author of the study.
The pandemic also gave researchers an unusual opportunity to look at well-being during a period of widespread stress. Participants’ emotional well-being declined after the emergence of COVID-19 and related restrictions, but the decline was less pronounced among those with greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
That does not mean diet shielded people from pandemic stress. People who eat healthier diets may also differ in other ways, including physical activity, social support, health status, income or access to food. Even when researchers adjust for many of those factors, observational studies cannot fully separate diet from the rest of a person’s life.
Still, the pattern fits with broader scientific interest in the links among diet, inflammation, the gut, the brain and stress responses. Lassale said the evidence suggests Mediterranean-style foods and nutrients may help regulate “key processes such as stress responses, inflammation, gut health and brain function.”
“This study provides further evidence of the relationship between what we eat and our mental health, an emerging field of research that we hope will generate substantial new evidence in the years to come,” said Alanna Shand, research psychologist and co-author of the study.
The study’s limits are important. Diet was measured using two self-reported food records, which may not capture someone’s usual eating habits. The participants were older adults in England, so the results may not apply equally to younger people or other populations. The research also does not show that diet should replace mental health care, social connection, physical activity, medication or other supports that may be needed.
But the findings do suggest that food choices may be one piece of a larger well-being picture, especially later in life.
“Although many questions remain open, there is no doubt about the need to promote healthy lifestyles, prioritising a balanced diet rich in plant-based foods and low in foods such as processed meats and sweets, particularly among older adults,” said Andrew Steptoe, researcher at University College London and first author of the study.
The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing is funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.