Dieting with fewer calories potentially enhances the likelihood of depression.
Fresh Perspective: How Dieting Affects Your Mood
Let's dive into a fascinating new study that examines the relationship between dieting and depression symptoms. Researchers from Toronto, Canada, delved into this topic to determine whether specific dietary habits could potentially harm our mental health.
Vast numbers of adults in the U.S. struggle with being overweight or obese, as per current guidelines. Several methods exist for Weight loss, including adopting a new diet or using medications.
However, taking things to the extreme is a common pitfall when individuals start their weight loss journey. This includes drastically cutting calories or even focusing on just one food group, like the carnivore diet.
While shedding those extra pounds is essential, it's crucial to prioritize a healthy approach. Some dieting methods can lead to physical health issues, and, according to this study, they might also impact mental health.
The researchers' findings were published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.
Diet and Mental Health: A Bound Connection
Depression affects millions worldwide, and in the U.S., it's on the rise. According to 2020 data, around 18.4% of adults in the U.S. have received a depression diagnosis [1].
Research shows that consuming healthy foods can boost mental health [1], while processed foods can have the opposite effect. However, there's a gap in understanding how calorie and nutrient restriction affects mental health. This study aimed to fill that gap.
The researchers analyzed data from 28,525 adults who participated in both the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The NHANES provides health and nutrition data, while the PHQ-9 measures depressive symptoms.
The study categorized participants into four groups:
- Calorie-restricted diet (8%)
- Nutrient-restricted diet (3%)
- Established medical dietary patterns, like the DASH diet (2%)
- No diet (87%)
The researchers compared participants' PHQ-9 responses, considering factors such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and biological sex.
Men Most Vulnerable to Low-Calorie Diets
The study linked the diet category of the participants with their level of depressive symptoms. Overall, 7.79% of participants reported having depressive symptoms.
Members of the calorie-restriction group had higher overall PHQ-9 scores, with an increase of 0.29 points compared to the other groups [1]. This increase was more significant among participants with higher BMIs in the calorie-restriction group, whose PHQ-9 score was higher by an average of 0.46 points.
Perhaps most concerning was an association found in overweight people in the nutrient-restriction group. While this group did not have a higher PHQ-9 score overall, among overweight individuals in this group, they had a higher PHQ-9 score of 0.61 points.
The researchers also discovered some associations depending on the participants' biological sex. They used the PHQ-9 to measure somatic symptoms, which are physical symptoms related to psychiatric distress.
"In biological men, all three dietary patterns were associated with higher somatic symptom scores," the authors stated [1]. Men on a nutrient-restricted diet were also more likely to experience an increase in cognitive-affective symptoms.
The researchers suggest that these associations might be due to men having higher caloric needs that aren't met through their food intake [1].
Why Does Calorie Restriction Affect Mental Health?
Amy Roethler, an RDN and nutritionist working with Newport Healthcare's PrairieCare program, discussed the study with Medical News Today.
"Significant calorie restriction can lead to negative impacts on mental health, specifically depressive symptoms. This study comes as a reminder that calorie restriction may have such consequences," Roethler noted [1].
From her experience, she finds that people often focus more on restricting their calories rather than their nutrient intake, contributing to these mental health impacts.
Roethler emphasized that making changes to eating habits, focusing on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins, can make an individual feel better, fostering sustained changes.
She also recommends that primary care providers working with patients trying to lose weight who also have a history of depression refer their patients to registered dieticians for guidance.
Investigating Specific Nutritional Deficiencies
Timothy Frie, a neuronutritionist and researcher in nutritional psychology, who wasn't involved in the study, shared his thoughts with Medical News Today.
"Calorie restriction is associated with increased depressive symptoms, especially in men and overweight individuals. Nutritional deficiencies may underlie these findings," Frie said [1].
Calorie restriction sometimes leads to people cutting out foods essential for mood regulation, such as B vitamins, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, and complex carbohydrates [3].
The study authors are planning to explore specific nutritional deficits that may occur with dieting and their impact on depressive symptoms.
- The study published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health investigated the connection between dieting and mental health, revealing that calorie restriction might increase depressive symptoms, particularly among overweight individuals and men.
- The researchers found that individuals who follow a calorie-restricted diet had higher overall scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a measure of depressive symptoms, compared to those following other dietary patterns.
- Notably, among overweight individuals in the nutrient-restriction group, the PHQ-9 scores were significantly higher, suggesting that extreme dieting practices could adversely affect mental health.
- Amy Roethler, an RDN and nutritionist, mentioned that significant calorie restriction could lead to negative impacts on mental health, specifically an increase in depressive symptoms, and emphasized that focusing on nutrient-rich foods can foster sustained changes and improve overall well-being.
- Timothy Frie, a neuronutritionist, suggests that calorie restriction might lead to nutritional deficiencies that could be underlying the increased depressive symptoms, and future research may explore specific nutritional deficits caused by dieting and their impact on mental health.
