Could a High-Fat Diet Cause Anxiety and Depression?

Consuming a high-fat diet may cause brain changes leading to the development of anxiety and depression, and while metabolic changes can be reversed after switching to a healthy diet, anxiety and depression may remain, according to a recent study.

For their study, researchers observed 30 mice that were administered a high-fat diet, a standard diet, or a 60% fructose-enriched diet for a 16-week duration, and underwent comprehensive metabolic and behavioral analysis.
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Overall, researchers observed a link between antigenic/depressive symptoms and the development of metabolic symptoms, which increased over time, and decreased levels of extracellular serotonin in the hippocampus among those consuming the high-fat diet.

Researchers also noted that although standard diet reinstatement reversed weight gain and metabolic changes, the anxiogenic/depressionlike symptoms remained.

“Our data provide clear-cut evidence that [type 2 diabetes and depression] are finely correlated and associated with impaired hippocampal serotonergic neurotransmission. Further experiments are warranted to define the most adequate strategy for the treatment of such comorbidity,” they concluded.

-Michelle Canales Butcher

Reference:

Zemdegs J, Quesseveur G, Jarriault D, et al. High fat diet-induced metabolic disorders impairs serotergic function and anxiety-like behaviours in mice. Br. J. Pharmacol. 2015 November [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1111/bph.13343.