Current state of nutritional psychiatry: A scoping review of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUNDNutritional psychiatry is a rapidly expanding field of research, with mounting evidence suggesting that nutritional factors may play a role in the development of psychiatric disorders.

AIMTo examine the level of evidence for nutritional psychiatry.

METHODSA scoping review was conducted to assess the current state of nutritional psychiatry, including a search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

RESULTSThe review identified a total of seven papers, with many concentrating on the relationship between depression and the gut microbiome. A salient issue that emerged from this review was the paucity of sample size in many studies. The inherent complexity of nutritional studies, characterized by a multitude of potential factors and exposures that often act as confounders, poses significant challenges to the development of effective RCT designs. The analysis revealed that probiotics, though demonstrating efficacy, exhibited a modest effect size.

CONCLUSIONConducting RCTs with effective markers is imperative from these studies. The implementation of Mendelian randomization and the investigation of mechanisms in basic research are essential complementary approaches.