Drinking plain water is associated with decreased risk of depression and anxiety in adults: Results from a large cross-sectional study

Table 1 General characteristic of participants across categories of plain water consumption

Variables	Plain water drinking			P value1
	< 2 glasses/d	2-5 glasses/d	≥ 5 glasses/d
Participants (n)	854	1764	709
Age (yr)2	37.2 ± 0.3	36.1 ± 0.2	34.8 ± 0.3	< 0.0001
BMI (kg/m2)2	24.7 ± 0.1	24.7 ± 0.10	25.5 ± 0.2	< 0.0001
Anxiety score2	4.0 ± 0.1	3.5 ± 0.10	3.0 ± 0.1	< 0.0001
Depression score2n (%)	6.8 ± 0.1	6.1 ± 0.09	5.3 ± 0.1	< 0.0001
Anxious	136 (16.2)	244 (14.1)	61 (8.7)	< 0.0001
Depressed	303 (36.0)	478 (27.7)	151 (21.6)	< 0.0001
Male	242 (28.3)	757 (42.9)	387 (54.6)	< 0.0001
Marital status				0.035
Married	680 (81.4)	1431 (82.9)	549 (78.8)
Single	135 (16.2)	271 (15.7)	139 (19.9)
Other	20 (2.4)	25 (1.4)	9 (1.3)
Anti-psychotic medicines use	56 (6.6)	91 (5.2)	39 (5.5)	0.342
Current smokers	147 (17.2)	243 (13.8)	70 (9.9)	< 0.0001
Moderately active and active	303 (39.6)	729 (45.7)	350 (56.1)	< 0.0001
Educational level				0.005
≤ 12 yr	333 (39.8)	633 (36.9)	301 (43.1)
12-16 yr	438 (52.4)	956 (55.6)	347 (49.7)
≥ 16 yr	65 (7.8)	129 (7.5)	50 (7.2)
FGID3 (%)	488 (57.1)	892 (50.6)	321 (45.3)	< 0.0001
Nutrients4
Energy (kcal/d)	2306.1 ± 30.1	2385.8 ± 20.7	2487.9 ± 34.7	0.001
Protein (% of total calorie)	84.3 ± 1.2	88.5 ± 0.8	93.2 ± 1.4	< 0.0001
Fat (% of total calorie)	95.5 ± 1.3	98.7 ± 0.9	103.1 ± 1.5	0.001
Carbohydrate (g/d)	285.3 ± 4.2	294.5 ± 2.9	306.3 ± 4.9	0.006
Fibre (g/d)	22.0 ± 0.2	22.5 ± 0.1	23.0 ± 0.2	0.003
Caffeine (mg/d)	106.7 ± 3.1	96.7 ± 2.2	96.0 ± 3.7	0.022
Magnesium (mg/d)	314.1 ± 4.3	327.2 ± 3.0	349.6 ± 5.0	< 0.0001
Thiamin (mg/d)	1.8 ± 0.03	1.8 ± 0.02	1.9 ± 0.03	0.062
Riboflavin (mg/d)	1.8 ± 0.03	1.9 ± 0.02	2.0 ± 0.03	< 0.0001
Pyridoxine (mg/d)	1.9 ± 0.03	2.0 ± 0.02	2.1 ± 0.03	< 0.0001
Folate (mg/d)	562.4 ± 5.8	573.8 ± 4.0	600.2 ± 6.7	0.801
Cobalamine (mg/d)	2.8 ± 0.05	3.0 ± 0.03	3.1 ± 0.05	< 0.0001
DHA (g/d)3	0.2 ± 0.01	0.2 ± 01	0.2 ± 0.01	< 0.0001
EPA (g/d)3	0.06 ± 0.003	0.1 ± 0.002	0.1 ± 0.003	< 0.0001
Food groups
Fruits (g/d)	285.8 ± 8.7	322.4 ± 6.0	351.1 ± 10.1	< 0.0001
Vegetables (g/d)	215.4 ± 4.8	241.4 ± 3.3	264.7 ± 5.5	< 0.0001
Nuts, legumes and soy (g/d)	55.5 ± 1.5	56.8 ± 1.0	60.9 ± 1.7	0.047
White meat (g/d)	59.4 ± 1.8	64.03 ± 1.2	67.5 ± 2.02	0.009
Red meat (g/d)	75.4 ± 1.8	78.4 ± 1.2	84.5 ± 2.06	0.004
Refined grains (g/d)	401.6 ± 7.1	390.7 ± 5.4	389.4 ± 9.11	0.473
Whole grains (g/d)	39.5 ± 2.9	40.8 ± 1.1	52.1 ± 3.40	0.007

¹Derived from one way ANOVA and chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables, respectively and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for nutrients and food groups;

²Values are means ± SEs;

³FGID defined as suffering from at least one of the following gastrointestinal disorders: Gastroesophageal Reflux, dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome and constipation;

⁴The nutrients were adjusted for age and body weight. DHA: Docosahexaenoic acid; EPA: Eicosa pentaenoic acid.