Dietary Advice Can Improve Nutritional Profile in Schizophrenia

MONDAY, Jan. 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, implementing conventional nutritional education strategies and specific nutritional advice with a symbiotic effect improves dietary-nutritional profiles, according to a study published online Dec. 19 in Nutrients.

Alfonso Sevillano-Jiménez, from Reina Sofia University Hospital in Cordoba, Spain, and colleagues conducted a randomized clinical trial in 50 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders to examine the impact of dietary advice on increasing symbiotic intake on nutritional status and dietary habits. The intervention group received a personal nutritional education program established to increase prebiotic and probiotic intake through dietary advice, while the control group received conventional dietary advice on an individual basis. Data were collected on nutritional status and dietary habits. The degree of adherence to recommended patterns was recorded.

Forty-four individuals completed follow-up. The researchers found that all participants exceeded the dietary reference intakes. A statistically significant reduction in macronutrient and micronutrient intakes was seen overall and in an intragroup analysis, with a closer approximation to recommended dietary intakes, except for polyunsaturated fatty acids, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and dietary fiber. Significant differences were seen in all variables of the anthropometric profile in the intervention group after six months of intervention; an increase was also seen in consumption of foods with high symbiotic content. Furthermore, reductions were seen in consumption of eggs, meat, fish, sugars, and ultra-processed foods, leading to significant intragroup differences.

“This study highlights the feasibility of high-symbiotic dietary intervention on cardiometabolic health and marked improvement of the nutritional profile,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text