ARTICLE INFO
EDITORIAL ARTICLE		*Corresponding author marzban86@gmail.com Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.   Postal code: 7486144135 Tel: +98 916 4011432
Article history: Received: 1  Jun  2021 Revised:19  Jun  2021 Accepted: 19  Jun  2021

Anxiety and depression are among the mental disorders that are highly prevalent in advanced and developing societies. Statistics show that one in five people, especially women, suffer from these disorders at some point in their lives. In Iran, the prevalence of anxiety is 15.6% and depression is 12.7% (Khademian et al., 2021, Mohammadi et al., 2019).
Making some dietary changes over the past fifty years has played an important role in increasing mental illness. The method currently used to produce food has upset the balance of important nutrients consumed. People tend to eat foods that contain more sugar and fat and avoid eating fresh foods, leading to depression and memory problems (Firth et al., 2020, Mörkl et al., 2020).
Paying attention to mental health problems with dietary changes sometimes works better than taking medication or counseling (Cherak et al., 2020). Previous studies have examined the association between risk factors, such as unhealthy diet, diet quality, and physical inactivity with common mental disorders (Saneei P, 2017). Nutrition causes changes in brain function, so that nutritional poverty is one of the most important causes of this disease (Owen and Corfe, 2017, Rozga et al., 2020). Observational studies have shown that consuming nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, and food groups, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish reduces the risk of depression (Rahmani et al., 2018). It is recommended to examine the relationship between diet and disease in the form of dietary patterns. Prospective studies have suggested that following a healthy eating pattern in the form of the healthy eating index (HEI) is associated with a reduced risk of depressive symptoms in women (Gibson-Smith et al., 2018). This protective role is related to the components of HEI, including vegetables, fruits, and the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids. It was also reported that in the US population, people with high-quality diets, as determined by the HEI, had fewer depressive symptoms. Similar findings have shown that a higher healthy eating index is associated with a lower chance of developing depression in adults. The results of a meta-analysis study also showed that healthy eating patterns, identified by factor analysis, were associated with a reduced risk of depression (Gündüz et al., 2019, Wu et al., 2020).
However, previous studies have shown the protective effect of a healthy eating pattern against mental disorders in Western societies, There are few studies in this field in the Middle East with a different dietary pattern from Western societies (Begdache et al., 2021, Ghazizadeh et al., 2020). These differences include high consumption of refined carbohydrates, high consumption of saturated and trans fatty acids, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and no alcohol consumption. Also, due to the stressful lifestyle in the Middle East, the relationship between diet and disease among the people of this region may be different from Western societies (Hariri et al., 2013).
Findings of the present study showed that following the alternative healthy eating index (AHEI) is associated with a reduction in the incidence of depression and anxiety. However, further studies are required in the future to confirm the findings of the present study. There is currently limited evidence linking mental health and food intake, so it is difficult to research and draw definitive conclusions. But in general, the recommendations given in the field of food are in line with the existing recommendations for maintaining health.
Authors' contributions
Both authors collected the data, wrote the draft of manuscript, read and approved the final version of manuscript.
Conflict of interest
 There is not any conflict of interest.
 
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