High-Fat Diet Increases Risk Of Depression, Anxiety

A high-fat diet may increase the risk of anxiety and depression, according to recent findings published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Researchers found that mice used in the study on a high-fat diet were at an increased risk for anxiety and depression. Furthermore, the study authors noted that the beneficial effects of an antidepressant used on mice in the high-fat group diminished. 

"When treating depression, in general there is no predictor of treatment resistance," Dr. Bruno Guiard, senior author of the study, said in a statement. "If we consider metabolic disorders as a putative treatment resistance predictor, this should encourage psychiatrists to put in place a personalized treatment with antidepressant drugs that do not further destabilize metabolism."

Fortunately, the study holds hope for anyone who may be eating a bad diet. Researchers found that when they took the mice off the high-fat diet, this completely reversed the animals' metabolic impairments and lessened symptoms relating to anxiety. 

"This finding reinforcing the idea that the normalization of metabolic parameters may give a better chance of achieving remission, particularly in depressed patients with type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Guiard.

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