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Choose your comfort foods carefully. Stress eating may initially calm anxious feelings, but according to a new study, certain fatty foods may exacerbate anxiety in the long run.
According to the study, consuming a certain type of high-fat diet, mostly saturated fat from animal products, disrupted the gut microbiome of laboratory mice and altered their behavior. The mice on this diet also showed higher expression of genes involved in neurotransmitter activity, specifically affecting serotonin, a brain chemical known to stimulate anxiety. Lead author Christopher Lowry, a professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, said that in addition to well-known risks such as obesity or heart disease, these findings suggest that anyone who consumes a lot of saturated fat should also consider potential effects on mental health. .
WHO: About 300 million people experience anxiety “Everyone knows these are not healthy foods, but we tend to think of them strictly in terms of weight gain,” Lowry says. “If you know they also affect the brain in ways that promote anxiety, then the risk is even greater.” While most people experience moments of intense worry and preoccupation, some struggle with more intense, relentless anxiety that can interfere with their daily life. According to the World Health Organization, about 300 million people worldwide suffer from an anxiety disorder, making it the most prevalent of all mental disorders.
Anxiety is a complex, variable feeling that is influenced by a variety of factors, and the impact of diet remains poorly understood. However, previous studies have also shown a similar link between high-fat diets and anxiety in mice, and there are signs that a similar link exists in humans. In the new study, Lowry and his colleagues sought to shed more light on the relationship between saturated fat and anxiety. They used adolescent male mice, divided them into two groups, and fed them different diets for nine weeks. One group received a standard lab rat diet, which contained about 11% fat. The other group’s diet contained about 45% fat, mostly saturated fat from animal products. The researchers used fecal samples to monitor the rats’ microbiomes throughout the study. After the nine weeks, they also performed behavioral tests. High-fat diet but low in beneficial bacteria The mice on the high-fat diet not only gained more weight, but also had significantly less diversity in their gut bacteria than mice in the control group, the researchers report. In addition to having lower microbial diversity, the mice on the high-fat diet had more bacteria from the phylum Firmicutes and fewer from the phylum Bacteroidetes, a ratio that in humans has been linked to obesity and an industrialized diet — for example, high amounts of refined grains, processed meats, and fried foods.The researchers also observed increased expression of three genes in the high-fat diet group. These genes — tph2, htr1a and slc6a4 — are involved in the production and signaling of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that performs many important functions. High-fat foods can increase bad moods While serotonin is popularly thought of as a mood enhancer, it has a variety of other roles. For example, it can help us vomit and plays an important role in bodily processes such as wound healing and digestion. The role of serotonin in depression is unclear, but it has a powerful effect on mood, and not always for the better. Certain types of serotonin-producing neurons, when activated, can trigger anxiety-like behaviors in animals, the researchers explained. In the new study, the increased expression of the three genes in the high-fat diet rats was particularly evident in the cDRD dorsal raphe nucleus, an area of the brainstem associated with stress and anxiety and where most of the brain’s serotonin is produced. The researchers note that higher tph2 expression in cDRD has been linked to mood disorders in previous human studies. “The idea that a high-fat diet alone can change the expression of these genes in the brain is extraordinary,” Lowry said. “The brains of the high-fat group basically had the molecular signature of a heightened state of anxiety.” The good fats we don’t have to give up The study’s authors note that there are many types of fats, and it’s foolish to lump them all together. For example, some fats, like fish oil and olive oil, have anti-inflammatory and brain-boosting effects. But saturated fats from animals are another story. In addition to other potential health risks, Lowry’s research suggests that a diet high in these fats may increase anxiety in the short and long term, especially when you’re young. The study was published in Biological Research, cited by Science Alert.
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