This is exactly the type of research I hoped to share when I started Prayers and Apples, so I’m extra excited about today’s post!
The following information is reprinted from materials provided by the University of Montreal, a.k.a. Universite de Montreal (which is appropriate, seeing as I came across it while participating in a video-conferenced French lecture last night hehe ..shhh!!)
Je travaille toujours sur ‘Prayers and Apples’ (les prières et les pommes!) quand je devrais faire le travail scolaire ;)
Voici la recherche:
Even before obesity occurs, eating fatty and sugary foods causes chemical changes in the brain, meaning that going on a diet might feel similar to going through drug withdrawal, according to a study published by Dr. Stephanie Fulton of the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Medicine and its affiliated CRCHUM Hospital Research Centre.
“By working with mice, whose brains are in many ways comparable to our own, we discovered that the neurochemistry of the animals who had been fed a high fat, sugary diet were different from those who had been fed a healthy diet,” Fulton explained.
“The chemicals changed by the diet are associated with depression. A change of diet then causes withdrawal symptoms and a greater sensitivity to stressful situations, launching a vicious cycle of poor eating.”
The research team fed one group of mice a low-fat diet and a high-fat diet to a second group over six weeks, monitoring how the different food affected the way the animals behave. Fat represented 11% of the calories in the low-fat diet and 58% in the high-fat diet, causing the waist size in the latter group to increase by 11% – not yet obese. Next, Fulton and her colleagues used a variety of scientifically validated techniques to evaluate the relationship between rewarding mice with food and their resulting behavior and emotions. They also actually looked at the brains of the mice to see how they had changed.
Mice that had been fed the higher-fat diet exhibited signs of being anxious, such as an avoidance of open areas. Moreover, their brains have been physically altered by their experiences. One of molecules in the brain that the researchers looked at is dopamine. It enables the brain to rewards us with good feelings, thereby encouraging us to learn certain kinds of behavior. This chemical is the same in humans as it is in mice and other animals. In turn, CREB is a molecule that controls the activation of genes involved in the functioning of our brains, including those that cause the production of dopamine. It contributes to memory formation.
“CREB is much more activated in the brains of higher-fat diet mice and these mice also have higher levels of corticosterone, a hormone that is associated with stress. This explains both the depression and the negative behavior cycle,” Fulton said.
“It’s interesting that these changes occur before obesity. These findings challenge our understanding of the relationship between diet, the body and the mind. It is food for thought about how we might support people psychologically as they strive to adopt healthy eating habits, regardless of their current corpulence.”
C’est fascinant, non? :)
Just to clarify (because I was a little confused until I read the entire study): Sensitivity to stress develops during the course of a high-fat diet (along with depression); changing to a healthy diet makes that sensitivity even worse. I would assume your chemicals balance back to normal after a certain period of time – but we need to dig around for some more research before we know for sure. Not to worry – I’m on it! ;)
Have you ever noticed increased anxiety when you change your diet?
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♥ Images source: Ratatouille, Pixar
Sharma, S., Fernandes, M.F. & Fulton, S. (2012). Adaptations in brain reward circuitry underlie palatable food cravings and anxiety induced by high-fat diet withdrawal. International Journal of Obesity. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2012.197
Universite de Montreal. (2012, December 12). Could ending your fatty food habit cause withdrawal symptoms and depression?. Retrieved March 26, 2013 from ScienceDaily.
PS. For anyone really interested, there’s a super similar article (also by Sharma and Fulton, minus Fernandes) appearing in this month’s issue of the International Journal of Obesity that uses the same study to suggest that striatal BDNF and CREB signalling molecules may “mediate the effects of high-fat feeding and diet-induced obesity to promote negative emotional states and depressive-like symptomology.” Check it out if you’re in a science-y mood!