ALIMENTARY CORRECTION OF PSYCHOEMOTIONAL STATUS: THE CONCEPTUAL ROLE OF SPICES (TURMERIC, SAFFRON, GINGER, AND CINNAMON) AND THE HYPOTHESIS OF PERSONALIZATION BASED ON TEMPERAMENT

Abstract

To summarize current scientific evidence on the role of nutrition and spices in the nutritional support of patients with psychosomatic diseases and to substantiate possibilities for personalization of dietary recommendations with consideration of individual psychological characteristics, particularly temperament. Materials and methods. The study was conducted in the format of a narrative review of the scientific literature. The analysis included publications addressing the relationship between psychoemotional stress and eating behavior, personalized nutrition, the influence of dietary quality on psychoemotional well-being, the role of the microbiota–gut–brain axis, the clinical effects of selected spices and their bioactive components, as well as the relationship between individual psychological characteristics (in particular, temperament) and food choice. The search for sources was performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases. The search was conducted during the period 01.05.2026–01.07.2026. The search strategy was formulated based on combinations of keywords and covered the following thematic blocks: “psychological stress,” “eating behavior” / “dietary behavior”; “diet quality,” “mental health” / “depression” / “anxiety”; “personalized nutrition”; “microbiota-gutbrain axis,” “diet” / “depression.” Inclusion criteria: publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals; systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled trials; publications predominantly from the period 2020–2026; studies involving adult participants addressing the relationship between nutrition, selected spices or their bioactive components, and psychoemotional state, stress, or eating behavior, as well as studies on the role of temperament/personality traits in food choice; selected earlier publications (prior to 2020) — fundamental conceptual reviews, key pilot clinical trials (including “SMILES”), or foundational mechanistic reviews of the microbiota–gut–brain axis that were of critical importance for shaping the evidence base of the field. Exclusion criteria: non-peer-reviewed publications (conference abstracts, media materials). Principle of publication selection. Priority was given to studies with the highest level of evidence (systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, randomized controlled trials). Results. Psychological stress was associated with changes in eating behavior, including a greater likelihood of unfavorable food choices. Overall dietary quality, including the degree of food processing and meal regularity, was consistently associated with psychoemotional status. Personalized nutritional interventions appear promising; however, evidence of their superiority over standard approaches remains heterogeneous. Among spices, saffron and curcumin attracted particular clinical interest, with trials reporting effects on individual measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms; nevertheless, findings from standardized extracts should not be extrapolated to culinary amounts because of substantial differences in bioavailability. Temperament is proposed to be regarded not as a criterion for selecting a specific spice or diet, but as a potential modifier of how dietary recommendations are implemented. Conclusions. Nutritional support should be considered an integral component of comprehensive care for patients with psychosomatic diseases. Spices may serve as a means of sensory personalization of a healthy dietary pattern, while the promising evidence on saffron and curcumin requires cautious clinical interpretation. Consideration of temperament may be useful for adapting behavioral strategy and improving adherence to dietary recommendations; however, the proposed model requires further clinical validation